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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — hasty
  8. march — the month
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. season — in sport
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. root — the cause
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — the month
  17. saw — the tool
  18. root — of a word
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pound — a weight
  21. season — of the year
  22. root — of a plant
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. kid — child

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