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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. rash — hasty
  3. land — ground
  4. last — to go on
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. perch — the fish
  7. march — the month
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — there
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. last — final
  12. last — finally
  13. present — a gift
  14. rash — a series
  15. march — the month
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. land — a country
  19. march — music
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — completely
  22. foot — a measure
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. land — to come down

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