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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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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: land · march · lie · bulb · bat · kid · rule · pound

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. kid — child
  3. land — ground
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. lie — to recline
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. land — to come down
  11. kid — to tease
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. march — the month
  14. pound — a weight
  15. march — the month
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — for light
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. land — a country
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. rule — to rule out

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