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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: ball · fall · calf · march · chair · spell · bat · land

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. land — ground
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. spell — magic
  9. march — music
  10. spell — letters
  11. ball — a dance
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. march — the month
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. chair — a leader
  16. ball — a great time
  17. fall — to drop
  18. land — to come down
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. fall — the season
  21. march — the month
  22. fall — to drop
  23. spell — a short time
  24. land — a country

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