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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. pitch — completely
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cap — of ice
  5. plane — a tool
  6. roll — a cake
  7. land — ground
  8. march — the month
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. wax — to grow
  11. land — to come down
  12. cap — a hat
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. march — the month
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. chest — a box
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cap — a lid
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. land — a country
  24. march — 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