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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. roll — a cake
  5. march — music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. fine — high quality
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. fine — all right
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rock — music
  21. date — the fruit
  22. roll — a list
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. rock — a stone

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