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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. spring — a coil
  3. drill — the tool
  4. content — happy
  5. spring — of water
  6. march — music
  7. scale — in music
  8. cell — in biology
  9. march — the month
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. drill — a practice
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. spring — the season
  16. march — the month
  17. drill — army training
  18. cell — a phone
  19. present — a gift
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. content — the amount

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