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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. march — music
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. squash — to crush
  5. march — the month
  6. squash — the sport
  7. kid — to tease
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. row — a line
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cap — a hat
  15. track — a path
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. kid — child
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. row — to paddle
  24. track — to keep track

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