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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 124 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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. rest — what's left
  3. court — of a king
  4. march — the month
  5. court — of law
  6. rest — a break
  7. last — final
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rest — what's left
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wake — a trail
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — not warm
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. file — a tool
  19. court — for sport
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. last — to go on
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. file — a document
  24. calf — of the leg

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