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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. bass — low music
  5. drill — a practice
  6. spring — the season
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — a coil
  10. march — music
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. bass — the fish
  13. march — the month
  14. spring — of water
  15. pop — music
  16. drill — the tool
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. drill — army training

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