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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. march — the month
  3. last — to go on
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. last — final
  7. season — in sport
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — to be able to
  10. march — music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. can — a tin
  14. march — the month
  15. last — finally
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. season — of the year
  18. season — to add flavour

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