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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 124 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — an illness
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. spring — of water
  6. squash — to crush
  7. club — for golf
  8. march — the month
  9. fine — all right
  10. spring — the season
  11. club — for dancing
  12. fine — high quality
  13. march — music
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. squash — the sport
  17. club — a group
  18. bound — certain
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kick — in football
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — tied together

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