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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mate — a partner
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — from a university
  5. lean — thin
  6. roll — a list
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. march — the month
  9. tear — to rip
  10. land — to come down
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. roll — a cake
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. march — music
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. lean — to bend
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. bowl — to roll

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