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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. season — of the year
  4. land — ground
  5. season — in sport
  6. court — of law
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. court — of a king
  10. roll — a list
  11. spell — a short time
  12. wind — moving air
  13. drill — army training
  14. spell — letters
  15. wind — moving air
  16. spell — magic
  17. drill — the tool
  18. court — for sport
  19. roll — a cake
  20. march — the month
  21. land — a country
  22. march — music
  23. land — to come down
  24. drill — a practice

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