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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. spring — of water
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. march — the month
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. face — to confront
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. ball — a dance
  10. hand — help
  11. club — for golf
  12. face — to point toward
  13. spring — the season
  14. ball — a great time
  15. spring — a coil
  16. march — the month
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. march — music
  21. face — part of the head
  22. hand — in cards
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. club — a group

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