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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 120 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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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. march — music
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. chest — a box
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chest — of your body
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. spring — a coil
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — to wash
  14. prune — to trim
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. rest — what's left

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