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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 124 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. spring — a coil
  3. march — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — the season
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. root — of a plant
  8. root — of a word
  9. perch — the fish
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. root — the cause
  12. march — the month
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. march — the month
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. file — a tool
  19. spring — of water
  20. band — a ring
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — what's left
  23. file — a document
  24. perch — for a bird

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