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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. band — a ring
  3. land — to come down
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. last — to go on
  7. bass — the fish
  8. land — ground
  9. bass — low music
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a great time
  13. plane — a tool
  14. band — a music group
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. last — final
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. land — a country

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