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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. firm — steady
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. last — final
  5. spring — the season
  6. last — to go on
  7. scale — size or range
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. scale — in music
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. saw — the tool
  15. last — finally
  16. march — the month
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. firm — decided
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. firm — a company
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. saw — the tool

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