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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. fall — the season
  3. march — the month
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. drill — a practice
  8. march — the month
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. rock — a stone
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — not warm
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. march — music
  16. cap — of ice
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cap — a hat
  21. fall — to drop
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cap — a lid

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