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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 120 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. march — music
  7. current — of water
  8. current — happening now
  9. march — the month
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cap — a hat
  12. mate — a friend
  13. cap — a lid
  14. land — ground
  15. mate — a partner
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. land — to come down
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. land — a country
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — the animal
  24. current — electric

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