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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. spring — the season
  8. spell — magic
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spring — of water
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  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