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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pop — music
  6. march — the month
  7. spring — of water
  8. march — music
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — the season
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. net — in sport
  15. wake — a trail
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. dip — to sink
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. march — the month
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. drill — army training
  23. pop — to visit
  24. racket — a loud noise

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