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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: chair · mate · bear · mine · march · land · pitch · shower

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. mate — a partner
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. land — ground
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. march — music
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. land — to come down
  12. bear — the animal
  13. land — a country
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. march — the month
  17. shower — rain
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mate — a friend
  23. mate — to breed
  24. march — the month

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