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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cold — an illness
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cold — not warm
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. present — a gift
  8. perch — the fish
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bass — low music
  13. march — music
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bass — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. march — the month
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. clip — a video
  20. present — the time now
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. clip — to cut
  23. march — the month
  24. present — there

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