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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. kid — child
  3. drill — a practice
  4. race — a contest
  5. wind — moving air
  6. track — a path
  7. present — there
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. race — humankind
  10. track — a song
  11. present — a gift
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. ball — a great time
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. march — the month
  19. ball — a dance
  20. track — to keep track
  21. race — the arms race
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. present — the time now
  24. march — the month

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