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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. march — the month
  3. face — to point toward
  4. charge — electricity
  5. spring — a coil
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. charge — in control
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — music
  11. court — of law
  12. cold — an illness
  13. court — of a king
  14. spring — the season
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — for sport
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. face — part of the head
  21. march — the month
  22. face — to confront
  23. charge — a price
  24. shower — to wash

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