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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. ball — a great time
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. drill — a practice
  8. march — the month
  9. cold — not warm
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bear — the animal
  13. rock — a stone
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pop — to visit
  18. march — music
  19. rock — music
  20. bear — the animal
  21. ball — a dance
  22. pop — music
  23. march — the month
  24. pop — soda

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