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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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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. snap — to click
  5. mine — for digging
  6. roll — a cake
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. march — music
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. march — the month
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. roll — a list
  20. prune — to trim
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. prune — to trim

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