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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 120 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. march — music
  3. court — of law
  4. squash — to crush
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — to tease
  7. land — ground
  8. kid — child
  9. mark — a grade
  10. object — a thing
  11. land — a country
  12. court — for sport
  13. root — the cause
  14. march — the month
  15. mark — a trace
  16. squash — the sport
  17. object — an aim
  18. root — of a word
  19. object — to protest
  20. court — of a king
  21. land — to come down
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. root — of a plant
  24. squash — the vegetable

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