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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spring — a coil
  4. march — music
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. rash — a series
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. spring — of water
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. march — the month
  20. rash — hasty
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. spring — the season
  24. hide — animal skin

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