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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. object — to protest
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a ring
  6. last — final
  7. rash — a series
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — a list
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. ground — the earth
  12. object — a thing
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. ground — crushed
  16. march — music
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. last — to go on
  19. object — an aim
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. band — a music group
  22. ground — a position
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. last — finally

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