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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. spring — a coil
  4. drill — a practice
  5. key — the most important part
  6. rest — what's left
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. spring — of water
  9. key — in music
  10. file — a tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — the tool
  14. tube — the underground
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rest — a break
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. rest — what's left
  22. key — for a lock
  23. tube — a container
  24. fall — the season

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