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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. march — music
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. fall — the season
  6. pop — music
  7. spell — magic
  8. ground — a position
  9. spell — letters
  10. swing — to play on
  11. date — the fruit
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. fall — to drop
  14. march — the month
  15. spell — a short time
  16. ground — crushed
  17. march — the month
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pop — soda
  20. fall — to drop
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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