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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 116 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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — of water
  4. bound — certain
  5. mate — a partner
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bound — obliged
  9. clip — a video
  10. spring — a coil
  11. march — the month
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. cap — of ice
  15. mate — a friend
  16. march — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cap — a lid
  19. mate — to breed
  20. bound — tied together
  21. spring — the season
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — hasty
  24. clip — for paper

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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