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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. saw — the tool
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. cap — of ice
  7. roll — a cake
  8. toast — bread
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. field — for sport
  11. march — music
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. field — a subject
  15. roll — a list
  16. cap — a lid
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cap — a hat
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. march — the month
  22. field — farmland
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. mine — for digging

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