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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. roll — a list
  3. last — final
  4. land — a country
  5. track — a song
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bank — for money
  9. track — to keep track
  10. march — the month
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. march — music
  13. bulb — for light
  14. file — a document
  15. land — to come down
  16. bank — for money
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. bulb — for light
  20. land — ground
  21. bank — of a river
  22. roll — a cake
  23. track — a path
  24. bulb — of a plant

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