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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. face — to confront
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. face — part of the head
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. face — to point toward
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. swing — music
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. spring — a coil
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. march — the month
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. lash — an eyelash

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