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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. march — music
  3. last — to go on
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. march — the month
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. last — finally
  8. ground — crushed
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. race — the arms race
  12. chair — a leader
  13. march — the month
  14. ground — a position
  15. fork — in a road
  16. race — a contest
  17. last — final
  18. race — humankind
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. ground — the earth
  24. season — of the year

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