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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. present — a gift
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. deal — to handle
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. present — the time now
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. march — the month
  13. present — there
  14. swing — to play on
  15. march — the month
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. swing — in golf
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. row — a line
  23. wound — an injury
  24. swing — music

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