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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. mate — a partner
  3. perch — the fish
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mate — to breed
  6. march — the month
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. drill — the tool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. march — the month
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. march — music
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. shower — rain
  16. drill — a practice
  17. mate — a friend
  18. bass — low music
  19. pitch — completely
  20. rule — government
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. bass — the fish
  23. drill — army training
  24. pitch — a sports field

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