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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 120 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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. fall — to drop
  4. ball — a great time
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. fall — the season
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. ball — a dance
  12. drill — army training
  13. pitch — completely
  14. cold — not warm
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. drill — a practice
  17. wind — moving air
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. march — music
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. wind — moving air

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