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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. spell — magic
  3. can — to be able to
  4. cap — a lid
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. spell — letters
  7. spring — the season
  8. march — the month
  9. can — a tin
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spring — of water
  13. march — the month
  14. spell — a short time
  15. present — the time now
  16. march — music
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — a coil
  20. can — a tin
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a hat

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