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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. last — to go on
  3. spell — magic
  4. bat — the animal
  5. march — the month
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a ring
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. band — a music group
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. last — final
  15. spell — a short time
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spell — letters
  18. last — finally
  19. current — electric
  20. current — happening now
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. current — of water

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