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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. march — music
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ground — the earth
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. ground — crushed
  13. dip — to sink
  14. march — the month
  15. ground — a position
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. kid — to tease
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. kid — child
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chair — a leader
  24. row — a quarrel

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