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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spring — of water
  3. march — music
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. sharp — clever
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. shower — to wash
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. shower — rain
  24. fan — to cool the air

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