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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. object — to protest
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. file — a tool
  5. march — music
  6. kid — child
  7. present — there
  8. bound — tied together
  9. capital — a city
  10. ball — a dance
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. kid — to tease
  14. march — the month
  15. bound — certain
  16. file — a document
  17. object — a thing
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. object — an aim
  20. capital — money
  21. present — a gift
  22. bound — obliged
  23. file — a line of people
  24. ball — a great time

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