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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. squash — the sport
  3. land — ground
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. land — a country
  7. pop — soda
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. pop — to visit
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. key — for a lock
  12. last — finally
  13. squash — to crush
  14. key — the most important part
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. key — in music
  18. land — to come down
  19. wake — a trail
  20. stand — to bear
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. march — the month
  24. pop — music

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