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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. march — music
  3. scale — in music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. march — the month
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — army training
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — an illness
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. charge — in control
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rest — what's left
  22. last — to go on
  23. charge — a price
  24. patient — a sick person

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