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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. spell — letters
  3. last — to go on
  4. kid — to tease
  5. last — finally
  6. chest — of your body
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. spell — magic
  10. march — the month
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. fine — all right
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. last — final
  18. spell — a short time
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. kid — child
  21. chest — a box
  22. pass — a permit
  23. fine — high quality
  24. pass — to succeed

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