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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bass — the fish
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bass — low music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. craft — a skill
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wound — an injury
  12. craft — boats
  13. scale — in music
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. scale — size or range
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mark — a trace
  24. mark — a grade

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