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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. last — final
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. march — the month
  5. last — finally
  6. net — after costs
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. march — music
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. last — to go on
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cell — a phone
  16. deal — to handle
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — moving air
  19. net — for catching
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. march — the month
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. jam — in traffic
  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