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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. land — ground
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spell — letters
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bass — low music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — final
  13. march — music
  14. mate — to breed
  15. last — finally
  16. march — the month
  17. land — a country
  18. last — to go on
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. march — the month
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bass — the fish
  24. spell — magic

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