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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fine — all right
  3. present — the time now
  4. drill — a practice
  5. present — a gift
  6. drill — the tool
  7. last — finally
  8. drill — army training
  9. last — final
  10. track — to keep track
  11. track — a song
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — to visit
  14. last — to go on
  15. track — a path
  16. spell — letters
  17. fine — high quality
  18. spell — a short time
  19. present — there
  20. pop — soda
  21. spell — magic
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. fine — a penalty

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