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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · march · track · kid · present · straw

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. present — the time now
  6. march — the month
  7. present — there
  8. march — music
  9. present — a gift
  10. track — a song
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. track — a path
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. march — the month
  18. track — to keep track

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