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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. perch — the fish
  5. file — a tool
  6. march — music
  7. file — a line of people
  8. capital — money
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. ball — a dance
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a document
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cold — an illness
  18. capital — a city
  19. club — for golf
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ball — a great time
  22. march — the month
  23. club — a group
  24. club — for dancing

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