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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 116 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ground — a position
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — for sport
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — to drop
  7. march — the month
  8. court — of a king
  9. swing — music
  10. court — of law
  11. fall — the season
  12. mark — a trace
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. swing — in golf
  15. land — to come down
  16. march — music
  17. mark — a grade
  18. ground — crushed
  19. land — ground
  20. fall — to drop
  21. ground — the earth
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. land — a country
  24. swing — to play on

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