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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. prune — to trim
  3. suit — to fit
  4. suit — in cards
  5. scale — in music
  6. content — happy
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. spring — the season
  9. present — there
  10. march — music
  11. present — a gift
  12. suit — clothes
  13. scale — size or range
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. spring — of water
  18. wound — an injury
  19. march — the month
  20. content — the amount
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wound — an injury
  23. march — the month
  24. prune — the fruit

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