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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wound — an injury
  6. march — the month
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. shower — rain
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rash — a series
  16. bark — to shout
  17. shower — to wash
  18. chair — a leader
  19. wound — an injury
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. rash — hasty

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