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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. chest — a box
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. march — the month
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pop — music
  9. land — ground
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — a permit
  12. drill — a practice
  13. pop — soda
  14. stock — shares
  15. land — to come down
  16. pop — to visit
  17. march — music
  18. chest — of your body
  19. land — a country
  20. drill — the tool
  21. march — the month
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cue — a signal
  24. drill — army training

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