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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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. perch — the fish
  2. march — music
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. drill — army training
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. capital — money
  7. ball — a dance
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. kick — in football
  11. pop — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. march — the month
  15. ball — a great time
  16. pop — to visit
  17. capital — a city
  18. drill — a practice
  19. rash — hasty
  20. pop — soda
  21. drill — the tool
  22. rash — a series
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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