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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. swing — music
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. tube — the underground
  6. swing — to play on
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. saw — the tool
  9. pass — a permit
  10. tube — a container
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. kid — child
  13. land — to come down
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. land — ground
  17. kid — to tease
  18. land — a country
  19. march — the month
  20. swing — in golf
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pass — to spend time
  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