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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. last — finally
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. chest — a box
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. land — ground
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. march — music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. last — to go on
  16. pitch — completely
  17. land — to come down
  18. last — final
  19. march — the month
  20. land — a country
  21. chest — of your body
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — for paper
  24. roll — a cake

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