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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. spring — the season
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. march — music
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — of ice
  9. spring — a coil
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. sharp — clever
  12. march — the month
  13. ball — a dance
  14. bound — tied together
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. bound — certain
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bound — obliged
  21. spring — of water
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. march — the month

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