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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: wind · march · rush · cell · kid · roll · season · foot

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. roll — a cake
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. march — music
  8. season — of the year
  9. foot — a measure
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. rush — hurry
  12. season — in sport
  13. roll — a list
  14. cell — in biology
  15. march — the month
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  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