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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. drill — a practice
  5. pass — a permit
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fall — the season
  8. present — the time now
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. rule — government
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. drill — army training
  18. fall — to drop
  19. present — a gift
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rule — a law
  24. cold — an illness

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