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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. land — a country
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. shower — to wash
  6. roll — a list
  7. bass — the fish
  8. march — music
  9. chest — a box
  10. land — ground
  11. bass — low music
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. march — the month
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bear — the animal
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. roll — a cake
  21. bear — the animal
  22. land — to come down
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — of your body

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