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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. game — a match
  4. staff — employees
  5. scale — in music
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. hand — help
  9. march — the month
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. staff — employees
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bark — to shout
  16. kick — in football
  17. staff — a stick
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. march — the month
  24. hand — in cards

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