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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: wind · march · land · present · object · bowl · kid · mine

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. land — a country
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — for digging
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. object — an aim
  8. wind — moving air
  9. present — the time now
  10. object — a thing
  11. march — the month
  12. present — there
  13. present — a gift
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — to come down
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. object — to protest
  18. kid — child
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. kid — to tease
  23. march — music
  24. bowl — a dish

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