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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 will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pit — in a race
  5. ball — a great time
  6. march — the month
  7. pit — a hole
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. march — music
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. wound — an injury
  17. squash — the sport
  18. scale — size or range
  19. kid — to tease
  20. wound — an injury
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. ball — a dance
  23. kid — child
  24. scale — in music

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