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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · fine · bat · wake · game · chair · march · cell

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — all right
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. game — wild animals
  6. march — the month
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. land — to come down
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chair — a leader
  14. wake — a trail
  15. march — the month
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. game — a match
  18. march — music
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. land — a country
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bat — the animal
  23. land — ground
  24. cell — a phone

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