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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 120 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: face · pop · march · mate · net · wind · stand · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mate — a friend
  5. march — the month
  6. stand — to bear
  7. march — music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. net — in sport
  12. pop — music
  13. court — for sport
  14. pop — soda
  15. net — for catching
  16. mate — to breed
  17. face — to confront
  18. court — of a king
  19. march — the month
  20. mate — a partner
  21. net — after costs
  22. face — part of the head
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. face — to point toward

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