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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. march — music
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. current — happening now
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. scale — in music
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — finally
  13. game — a match
  14. march — the month
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. current — electric
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. scale — size or range
  19. march — the month
  20. tube — the underground
  21. current — of water
  22. tube — a container
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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