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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. last — final
  9. club — for golf
  10. march — music
  11. board — a committee
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. clip — a video
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — for paper
  18. march — the month
  19. board — to get on
  20. club — for dancing
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. club — a group
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. march — the month

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