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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. row — to paddle
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. band — a ring
  5. march — the month
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. pit — in a race
  13. squash — to crush
  14. cold — not warm
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. march — music
  17. land — a country
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. pit — a hole
  20. row — a line
  21. land — to come down
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cold — an illness

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