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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bound — certain
  4. game — a match
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rush — hurry
  7. march — the month
  8. bound — obliged
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bound — tied together
  12. perch — the fish
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — money
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fork — in a road
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. capital — a city
  23. march — the month
  24. perch — for a bird

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