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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. spring — of water
  3. rock — music
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. game — wild animals
  6. vault — a safe
  7. spring — the season
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — a coil
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. rock — a stone
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bear — the animal
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. saw — the tool
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. march — music
  21. game — a match
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. march — the month
  24. bear — the animal

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