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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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Word bank
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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: mouse · bore · bat · cold · perch · march · race · game

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. game — a match
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — humankind
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. march — the month
  18. bore — to tire
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — a kind of play

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