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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. can — a tin
  3. land — ground
  4. pop — to visit
  5. land — a country
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. bulb — for light
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. bulb — for light
  11. pop — soda
  12. last — finally
  13. pop — music
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. march — the month
  16. land — to come down
  17. last — to go on
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. degree — from a university

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