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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. land — to come down
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — a practice
  5. sharp — clever
  6. last — to go on
  7. march — the month
  8. scale — size or range
  9. land — a country
  10. march — music
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. bass — low music
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bass — the fish
  17. last — finally
  18. drill — the tool
  19. last — final
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. land — ground
  22. saw — the tool
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. scale — in music

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