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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. march — music
  4. ground — the earth
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. tube — the underground
  8. ground — a position
  9. file — a tool
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. pass — a permit
  13. file — a line of people
  14. game — a match
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rule — government
  18. file — a document
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. rule — a law
  23. tube — a container
  24. pass — to succeed

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