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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. rule — government
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. spring — of water
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. board — a committee
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. board — to get on
  17. march — music
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — the season
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mine — for digging

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