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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. degree — from a university
  5. spring — the season
  6. track — a song
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. track — to keep track
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. firm — a company
  12. firm — decided
  13. land — a country
  14. spring — of water
  15. march — the month
  16. land — ground
  17. cell — in biology
  18. firm — steady
  19. spring — a coil
  20. track — a path
  21. land — to come down
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. degree — an amount

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