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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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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: march · rock · bat · perch · last · wound · spell · key

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. key — for a lock
  3. spell — a short time
  4. key — in music
  5. wound — an injury
  6. rock — a stone
  7. spell — magic
  8. march — the month
  9. rock — music
  10. last — final
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. march — the month
  13. last — to go on
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. key — the most important part
  17. last — finally
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spell — letters
  21. march — music
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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