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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. rest — a break
  5. drill — a practice
  6. march — music
  7. spring — a coil
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. drill — army training
  10. lean — thin
  11. lean — to bend
  12. march — the month
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. spring — the season
  15. rest — what's left
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. march — the month
  19. spring — of water
  20. perch — the fish
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rest — what's left
  24. band — a ring

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