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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. march — the month
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. swing — music
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. game — wild animals
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cold — an illness
  12. staff — a stick
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. march — the month
  17. game — a match
  18. wind — moving air
  19. staff — employees
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. swing — to play on
  22. staff — employees
  23. swing — in golf
  24. straw — dry grass

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