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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: march · ball · ruler · staff · file · cold · perch · fork

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — the fish
  5. staff — employees
  6. file — a line of people
  7. march — music
  8. file — a tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. file — a document
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a great time
  16. staff — employees
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. ball — a dance
  20. cold — not warm
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. fork — in a road
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. ruler — for measuring

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