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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
468
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: bark · current · wind · land · date · fall · march · game

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. date — the fruit
  5. current — happening now
  6. game — wild animals
  7. march — the month
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bark — to shout
  10. land — a country
  11. current — electric
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. current — of water
  23. game — a match
  24. fall — to drop

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