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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. last — to go on
  6. degree — temperature
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. last — finally
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. march — the month
  15. date — the fruit
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spring — of water
  18. rush — hurry
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — the season
  21. march — music
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. last — final
  24. degree — from a university

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