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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. shower — to wash
  5. march — the month
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. march — music
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cold — an illness
  13. shower — rain
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. cold — not warm
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pit — in a race
  19. board — a committee
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. board — to get on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. drill — the tool
  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