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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. march — the month
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. scale — in music
  6. fine — all right
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. present — a gift
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mine — for digging
  11. scale — size or range
  12. prune — to trim
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. present — there
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. present — the time now
  17. march — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fine — high quality
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — not warm
  23. march — the month
  24. ruler — for measuring

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