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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. march — the month
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — for betting
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. chip — to eat
  12. drill — the tool
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. drill — a practice
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a grade
  22. cold — an illness
  23. drill — army training
  24. toast — bread

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