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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. cold — not warm
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a music group
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. mug — to rob
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stand — to bear
  11. scale — in music
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. scale — size or range
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. band — a ring
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cold — an illness
  20. march — music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. march — the month
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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