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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. march — the month
  3. mug — to rob
  4. drill — army training
  5. march — music
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mug — a face
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — in biology
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cell — a phone
  16. march — the month
  17. rest — what's left
  18. perch — the fish
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. file — a document
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — a cup
  24. wound — an injury

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