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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. roll — a cake
  3. roll — a list
  4. mark — a trace
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. march — the month
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. march — the month
  12. object — an aim
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. object — a thing
  15. hand — help
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hand — in cards
  18. spring — of water
  19. rash — a series
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. mark — a grade
  24. object — to protest

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