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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. march — music
  3. kid — child
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. season — in sport
  6. present — a gift
  7. can — to be able to
  8. march — the month
  9. rash — a series
  10. can — a tin
  11. swing — to play on
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. swing — music
  15. season — of the year
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. present — the time now
  19. swing — in golf
  20. present — there
  21. rash — hasty
  22. march — the month
  23. can — a tin
  24. wind — moving air

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