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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. drill — army training
  3. march — the month
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. sharp — clever
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. game — a match
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. deal — to handle
  10. march — music
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wake — a trail
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — the tool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — the month
  23. drill — a practice
  24. calf — of the leg

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