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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. drill — army training
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chip — to eat
  5. march — music
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chip — for betting
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. drill — a practice
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. land — a country
  13. face — to confront
  14. bat — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. drill — the tool
  17. fall — to drop
  18. ground — the earth
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — part of the head
  21. ground — a position
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — ground

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