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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ball · wave · fine · staff · cold · land · scale · march

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. staff — employees
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ball — a great time
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. scale — in music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. staff — a stick
  22. land — to come down
  23. march — the month
  24. fine — high quality

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