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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. shower — to wash
  4. march — the month
  5. pit — a hole
  6. saw — the tool
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. shower — rain
  10. ground — crushed
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. lean — to bend
  13. pit — in a race
  14. saw — the tool
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. content — the amount
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. march — the month
  22. ground — the earth
  23. lean — thin
  24. ground — a position

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