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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mug — to rob
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. mug — a cup
  7. race — humankind
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — the earth
  10. scale — in music
  11. race — a contest
  12. march — music
  13. kid — child
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. march — the month
  16. mug — a face
  17. ground — a position
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. race — the arms race
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — low music

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