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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 120 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. spring — the season
  3. rock — music
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spring — a coil
  6. content — the amount
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. march — music
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. court — of a king
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. wound — an injury
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. court — of law
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rock — a stone
  21. content — happy
  22. court — for sport
  23. spring — of water
  24. fan — a supporter

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