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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pop — to visit
  3. roll — a list
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. pop — soda
  8. march — music
  9. board — a committee
  10. last — final
  11. chest — a box
  12. last — finally
  13. pop — music
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. march — the month
  16. last — to go on
  17. board — to get on
  18. chest — of your body

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