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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. march — music
  3. deal — to handle
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. march — the month
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. toast — bread
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — in music
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. present — a gift
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. wind — moving air
  18. present — the time now
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. march — the month
  22. present — there
  23. cold — not warm
  24. deal — an agreement

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