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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 116 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. court — for sport
  5. lie — to recline
  6. degree — an amount
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. mine — for digging
  14. march — the month
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. court — of a king
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. file — a document
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. court — of law
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — a container

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