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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. spring — of water
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. march — the month
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. snap — to click
  8. march — music
  9. spring — the season
  10. pop — soda
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. pop — music
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bore — to tire
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bore — to drill
  18. pop — to visit
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. march — the month
  24. rash — a series

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