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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. land — ground
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. face — to point toward
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. land — a country
  10. face — to confront
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. wake — a trail
  17. march — music
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fork — in a road
  20. mate — a friend
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. land — to come down
  24. game — wild animals

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