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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. cell — a phone
  5. roll — a cake
  6. roll — a list
  7. fine — high quality
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. net — for catching
  11. fine — all right
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. track — to keep track
  15. cell — in biology
  16. last — finally
  17. net — after costs
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. field — for sport
  21. last — final
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. last — to go on
  24. net — in sport

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