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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. rule — government
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. band — a music group
  6. present — there
  7. rule — a law
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pop — music
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — a gift
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. pop — soda
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bore — to tire
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com