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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. band — a music group
  4. spring — the season
  5. suit — to fit
  6. shower — to wash
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. mine — for digging
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. swing — in golf
  11. craft — a skill
  12. band — a ring
  13. suit — clothes
  14. shower — rain
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. suit — in cards
  18. march — music
  19. swing — music
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. spring — of water
  22. craft — boats
  23. spring — a coil
  24. mine — belonging to me

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