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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. row — a line
  3. fork — in a road
  4. march — the month
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. pop — soda
  7. scale — size or range
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pop — to visit
  14. march — the month
  15. scale — in music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pop — music
  19. chest — a box
  20. mark — a grade
  21. march — music
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. mark — a trace
  24. chest — of your body

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