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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. tube — a container
  3. march — the month
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cold — not warm
  7. court — for sport
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. march — music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. tube — the underground
  19. court — of law
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. court — of a king
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cold — an illness
  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