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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 120 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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. face — to confront
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. saw — the tool
  6. band — a music group
  7. face — part of the head
  8. spring — the season
  9. march — the month
  10. face — to point toward
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. band — a ring
  13. march — music
  14. bat — the animal
  15. saw — the tool
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. swing — in golf
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. march — the month
  24. band — a rubber band

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