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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. swing — music
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. spring — a coil
  6. march — the month
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. march — music
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. spring — the season
  13. land — ground
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tear — from crying
  16. land — a country
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tube — a container
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. land — to come down
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  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