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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. rule — government
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. file — a document
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. dip — to sink
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. march — the month
  16. file — a tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. file — a line of people
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. rule — a law
  24. straw — dry grass

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