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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. drill — army training
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. file — a line of people
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. file — a document
  12. court — of law
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. drill — a practice
  17. court — for sport
  18. march — the month
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. file — a tool
  21. bat — the animal
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. court — of a king
  24. march — 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