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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. can — a tin
  3. face — to point toward
  4. can — to be able to
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. spring — the season
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cold — not warm
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. can — a tin
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. tube — the underground
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. tube — a container
  20. wake — a trail
  21. face — to confront
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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