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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. land — ground
  6. land — a country
  7. land — to come down
  8. march — the month
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. march — the month
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chest — a box
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rule — government
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. rule — a law
  24. fork — a garden tool

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