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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. march — music
  3. last — to go on
  4. kid — to tease
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. file — a tool
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. kid — child
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. file — a line of people
  14. last — finally
  15. pitch — completely
  16. file — a document
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. last — final
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. game — a match

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