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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. drill — army training
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cue — a signal
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. hand — help
  8. cue — for pool
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. march — music
  11. hand — in cards
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wound — an injury
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cold — not warm
  17. object — an aim
  18. object — a thing
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wound — an injury
  21. object — to protest
  22. drill — a practice
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. march — the month

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