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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. march — the month
  3. drill — a practice
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. march — the month
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rash — a series
  11. press — newspapers
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. rash — hasty
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. march — music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. drill — army training
  19. cell — in biology
  20. squash — to crush
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — to push
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cell — in a prison

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