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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. drill — a practice
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. shower — rain
  11. drill — the tool
  12. march — music
  13. drill — army training
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. spring — a coil
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. shower — to wash
  20. capital — a city
  21. spring — of water
  22. capital — money
  23. perch — the fish
  24. capital — a big letter

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