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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. court — for sport
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. march — the month
  5. face — to confront
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. land — ground
  8. kick — in football
  9. face — to point toward
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. face — part of the head
  12. land — a country
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. race — a contest
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. court — of a king
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. march — the month
  20. court — of law
  21. pound — a weight
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. land — to come down

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