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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 water is too ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — a cup
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mug — a face
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. march — the month
  17. mug — to rob
  18. drill — army training
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. straw — a straw man
  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