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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 116 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: mate · last · kid · wind · court · game · march · wake

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. mate — a partner
  6. court — of law
  7. last — finally
  8. court — for sport
  9. kid — to tease
  10. march — music
  11. kid — child
  12. game — wild animals
  13. court — of a king
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. game — a match
  17. mate — to breed
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. last — to go on
  20. mate — a friend
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. last — final

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