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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. march — the month
  3. fall — to drop
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. mate — a friend
  6. lean — to bend
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. lean — thin
  12. mate — a partner
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. land — a country
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fall — the season
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. land — to come down
  21. mate — to breed
  22. fall — to drop
  23. perch — the fish
  24. plane — a tool

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