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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. pop — music
  3. bat — the animal
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. march — the month
  6. land — to come down
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pop — soda
  9. fall — the season
  10. drill — a practice
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. plane — a tool
  14. drill — army training
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. land — ground
  18. fall — to drop
  19. drill — the tool
  20. land — a country
  21. pop — to visit
  22. march — the month
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. march — music

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