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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. cap — a lid
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — hurry
  5. bass — low music
  6. march — music
  7. board — to get on
  8. cap — a hat
  9. board — a committee
  10. march — the month
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bass — the fish
  17. spring — the season
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cold — not warm
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. spring — of water
  24. cold — an illness

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