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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. row — a line
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. spring — of water
  6. march — the month
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. sharp — clever
  9. prune — to trim
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — the season
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cell — in biology
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. prune — to trim
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cell — a phone

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