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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. march — music
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. march — the month
  8. branch — a division
  9. club — for dancing
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — a group
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — the season

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