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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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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: date · last · chest · object · game · march · club · land

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chest — of your body
  3. game — a match
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. chest — of your body
  7. land — to come down
  8. march — the month
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. game — wild animals
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. club — for dancing
  14. chest — a box
  15. last — to go on
  16. date — the fruit
  17. object — an aim
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. club — a group
  22. object — to protest
  23. club — for golf
  24. object — a thing

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