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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bear — the animal
  4. scale — size or range
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — a tool
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. bulb — for light
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — the season
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. spring — of water
  20. wound — an injury
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. scale — in music
  24. bear — 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