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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — of water
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. prune — to trim
  6. spring — the season
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. march — music
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. firm — decided
  11. spring — a coil
  12. degree — an amount
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. degree — from a university
  16. march — the month
  17. firm — a company
  18. degree — temperature
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. prune — to trim
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. prune — the fruit

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