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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. staff — a stick
  3. march — music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — the month
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. staff — employees
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cold — not warm
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. mark — a trace
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. staff — employees
  16. mark — a grade
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bat — the animal
  21. toast — bread
  22. march — the month
  23. chest — a box
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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