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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. fall — the season
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spring — of water
  6. march — the month
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. craft — boats
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cue — a signal
  16. spring — the season
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. clip — a video
  19. spring — a coil
  20. craft — a skill
  21. cold — not warm
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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