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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — after costs
  6. lean — thin
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. lean — to bend
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — soda
  11. march — music
  12. last — final
  13. land — a country
  14. last — to go on
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. last — finally
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. net — in sport
  19. march — the month
  20. game — wild animals
  21. march — the month
  22. game — a match
  23. land — ground
  24. pop — to visit

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