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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.

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: ground · march · mug · wound · chair · degree · land · sharp

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. mug — a face
  3. sharp — clever
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. march — the month
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. ground — the earth
  10. chair — a leader
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. wound — an injury
  13. ground — crushed
  14. wound — an injury
  15. land — to come down
  16. mug — a cup
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. march — the month
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. ground — a position
  23. mug — to rob
  24. chair — to sit on

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