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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. hand — help
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. suit — in cards
  7. cold — an illness
  8. march — the month
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. rush — hurry
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. march — the month
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. suit — clothes
  23. hand — in cards
  24. suit — to fit

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