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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.

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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — of water
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spring — the season
  6. press — newspapers
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. track — to keep track
  9. march — the month
  10. press — to push
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fork — in a road
  14. march — the month
  15. tear — to rip
  16. spell — magic
  17. swing — in golf
  18. spell — letters
  19. track — a path
  20. spell — a short time
  21. swing — to play on
  22. march — music
  23. press — a publisher
  24. swing — music

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