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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. hand — in cards
  6. march — the month
  7. chip — for betting
  8. march — music
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. mug — a cup
  11. spring — a coil
  12. roll — a cake
  13. spring — of water
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. spring — the season
  16. roll — a list
  17. mug — a face
  18. land — ground
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chip — to eat
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. mug — to rob
  24. wound — an injury

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