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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. pass — to succeed
  2. march — music
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. club — a group
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — the month
  12. wind — moving air
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. cold — not warm
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. pass — a permit
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — for dancing
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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