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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 124 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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. rash — hasty
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mine — for digging
  6. march — the month
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. object — a thing
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kid — child
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. object — to protest
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bore — to drill
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. object — an aim
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — to tease
  24. wind — to turn a key

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