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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wound — an injury
  3. can — a tin
  4. ball — a great time
  5. fine — high quality
  6. wound — an injury
  7. can — to be able to
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. ball — a dance
  10. fine — all right
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. march — the month
  15. chair — a leader
  16. can — a tin
  17. march — the month
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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