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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. march — the month
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. march — music
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. degree — temperature
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — from a university
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. spring — of water
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. march — the month
  20. shower — rain
  21. ball — a great time
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — an amount
  24. spring — a coil

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