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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. fine — all right
  3. tube — a container
  4. prune — to trim
  5. march — the month
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a partner
  8. tube — the underground
  9. prune — to trim
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. file — a document
  12. wind — moving air
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mate — a friend
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. sharp — clever
  17. march — the month
  18. file — a line of people
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. file — a tool
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. fine — high quality

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