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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. pop — music
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. track — a path
  6. bound — certain
  7. march — the month
  8. hand — in cards
  9. perch — the fish
  10. track — a song
  11. spring — the season
  12. track — to keep track
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bound — obliged
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spring — of water
  17. pop — soda
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bat — the animal
  22. hand — help
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. hand — part of the body

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