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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — music
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mate — a friend
  5. march — the month
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. fork — in a road
  10. march — the month
  11. capital — a city
  12. ball — a great time
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — money
  16. present — a gift
  17. ball — a dance
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. mate — a partner
  21. mate — to breed
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. present — there

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