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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. ground — a position
  3. march — music
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. spring — the season
  6. cap — a lid
  7. band — a music group
  8. spell — a short time
  9. band — a ring
  10. spring — of water
  11. march — the month
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spell — letters
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spell — magic
  19. ground — crushed
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. ground — the earth
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — the animal

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