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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pop — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mug — to rob
  5. pop — to visit
  6. mug — a face
  7. scale — in music
  8. wound — an injury
  9. file — a tool
  10. march — the month
  11. rule — a law
  12. mug — a cup
  13. scale — size or range
  14. tear — from crying
  15. file — a line of people
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pop — soda
  18. file — a document
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. march — music
  24. rule — government

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