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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. rush — to hurry
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. march — music
  6. rash — hasty
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. game — a match
  10. march — the month
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. drill — the tool
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. game — wild animals
  18. rush — hurry
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — a practice
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. deal — to handle
  23. rash — a series
  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