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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. present — a gift
  3. suit — clothes
  4. scale — in music
  5. present — there
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bat — the animal
  8. present — the time now
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cold — an illness
  11. can — a tin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. march — the month
  14. can — to be able to
  15. march — music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. suit — in cards
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. can — a tin
  23. mine — for digging
  24. march — the month

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