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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. season — of the year
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. season — in sport
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. march — music
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ground — a position
  11. staff — a stick
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. march — the month
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spring — the season
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. staff — employees
  22. spring — of water
  23. ground — the earth
  24. staff — employees

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