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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ground — the earth
  4. spring — the season
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — a position
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. last — to go on
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. board — a committee
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. last — final
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. rush — hurry
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. march — music
  21. board — to get on
  22. degree — temperature
  23. last — finally
  24. nail — for a hammer

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