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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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — to come down
  3. current — electric
  4. land — ground
  5. tube — a container
  6. last — finally
  7. march — music
  8. land — a country
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — size or range
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. current — of water
  15. spell — letters
  16. scale — in music
  17. last — final
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. last — to go on
  20. current — happening now
  21. bat — the animal
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. march — the month
  24. tube — the underground

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