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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — to come down
  3. spell — magic
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the sport
  11. spell — a short time
  12. squash — to crush
  13. land — a country
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. march — music
  16. cap — a hat
  17. swing — to play on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. land — ground
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. spell — letters

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