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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 116 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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. tear — to rip
  5. squash — to crush
  6. band — a ring
  7. last — final
  8. squash — the sport
  9. club — for golf
  10. land — a country
  11. craft — a skill
  12. land — to come down
  13. craft — boats
  14. spring — of water
  15. land — ground
  16. last — to go on
  17. club — for dancing
  18. last — finally
  19. spring — a coil
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. band — a music group
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. club — a group

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