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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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. cue — a hint
  4. game — a match
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — the fish
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. cold — not warm
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. face — to confront
  15. cue — for pool
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pop — soda
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — to visit
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cue — a signal
  24. face — part of the head

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