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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: march · court · season · hand · chip · bore · last · face

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. court — for sport
  3. hand — help
  4. last — finally
  5. march — the month
  6. season — of the year
  7. bore — to drill
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. face — to confront
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. face — part of the head
  13. march — music
  14. chip — for betting
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bore — to tire
  17. season — in sport
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — final
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. hand — in cards
  24. march — the month

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