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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 116 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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. spring — of water
  3. present — there
  4. land — to come down
  5. present — a gift
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. craft — a skill
  11. spring — a coil
  12. craft — boats
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. band — a music group
  15. land — ground
  16. degree — from a university
  17. land — a country
  18. degree — an amount
  19. present — the time now
  20. degree — temperature
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. spring — the season
  24. leaves — of a tree

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