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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. spring — of water
  3. band — a ring
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. shower — rain
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. field — for sport
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. snap — to click
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. field — a subject
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. march — the month
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. spring — a coil
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. field — farmland
  19. march — the month
  20. plane — a tool
  21. shower — to wash
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. spring — the season
  24. band — a music group

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