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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 · wound · last · march · rule · ball · lean · band

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. ball — a dance
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — the month
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a music group
  7. march — the month
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. band — a ring
  10. wound — an injury
  11. march — music
  12. lean — to bend
  13. last — to go on
  14. rule — a law
  15. land — to come down
  16. lean — thin
  17. land — ground
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. land — a country
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. last — final
  22. rule — government
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a great time

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