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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. march — the month
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. season — in sport
  7. march — music
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. rush — hurry
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — to wash
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. scale — size or range
  20. spring — of water
  21. season — of the year
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. shower — rain
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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