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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 116 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wound — an injury
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. march — the month
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. wound — an injury
  14. court — of a king
  15. plane — a tool
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. game — a match

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