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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: chest · lie · pitcher · last · march · stand · squash · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. last — final
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. march — music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. squash — the sport
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. spell — magic
  9. chest — of your body
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. spell — a short time
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. squash — to crush
  18. chest — a box
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. stand — to bear
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. last — to go on
  23. lie — to recline
  24. last — finally

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