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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. stem — to come from
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. wound — an injury
  7. net — in sport
  8. rash — hasty
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. rash — a series
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. march — the month
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — after costs
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. march — the month
  20. content — the amount
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stem — a stem cell

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