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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.

Make a worksheet

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: last · land · ball · march · band · cold · content · bear

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. ball — a great time
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. march — music
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. band — a ring
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. last — final
  9. land — ground
  10. cold — an illness
  11. band — a music group
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bear — the animal
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bear — the animal
  16. last — finally
  17. content — the amount
  18. land — to come down
  19. ball — a dance
  20. last — to go on
  21. cold — not warm
  22. content — happy
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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