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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cue — a hint
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. march — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. degree — an amount
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — a city
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pop — music
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wound — an injury
  15. capital — money
  16. pit — in a race
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cue — for pool
  21. pit — a hole
  22. perch — the fish
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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