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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: bat · rock · march · wound · spell · cap · roll · firm

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. march — the month
  3. cap — of ice
  4. march — the month
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. roll — a list
  8. firm — a company
  9. spell — a short time
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a cake
  12. spell — magic
  13. rock — music
  14. march — music
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. firm — decided
  19. bat — the animal
  20. firm — steady
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cap — a hat

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