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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. kid — to tease
  5. march — the month
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. court — for sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. court — of law
  13. kid — child
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. cold — an illness
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — music
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. march — the month

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