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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. can — a tin
  3. game — a match
  4. fall — to drop
  5. march — the month
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bass — low music
  9. bank — of a river
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fall — the season
  12. land — a country
  13. bass — the fish
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bank — for money
  19. march — the month
  20. bank — for money
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. game — wild animals
  23. march — music
  24. land — to come down

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