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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. ball — a dance
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rash — a series
  6. march — the month
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. march — music
  12. ball — a great time
  13. can — to be able to
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. can — a tin
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. can — a tin
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fall — the season
  23. rash — hasty
  24. ball — a round shape

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