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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cell — a phone
  3. stand — to bear
  4. march — the month
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. court — for sport
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. last — to go on
  9. cell — in biology
  10. last — finally
  11. court — of law
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. court — of a king
  17. march — music
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wind — moving air
  20. perch — the fish
  21. march — the month
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wind — moving air

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