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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. club — for golf
  5. current — electric
  6. march — music
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — soda
  10. wound — an injury
  11. march — the month
  12. club — a group
  13. club — for dancing
  14. mug — to rob
  15. march — the month
  16. mug — a cup
  17. net — in sport
  18. pop — music
  19. current — happening now
  20. current — of water
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — a face
  24. spring — the season

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