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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. lie — to recline
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ground — a position
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. march — the month
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — crushed

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