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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. march — the month
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. hand — help
  6. last — to go on
  7. chest — of your body
  8. last — final
  9. spring — of water
  10. last — finally
  11. tear — to rip
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — in cards
  16. rock — a stone
  17. stand — to bear
  18. rock — music
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — of your body

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