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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. march — music
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — a group
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. game — wild animals
  12. capital — a city
  13. game — a match
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. club — for dancing
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — a coil
  19. tear — to rip
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — of water
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. snap — to click

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