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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 120 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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. game — a match
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. march — the month
  10. drill — a practice
  11. rock — a stone
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. chip — to eat
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. drill — army training
  20. rock — music
  21. drill — the tool
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. march — music
  24. chip — for betting

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