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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. field — for sport
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. field — farmland
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — a subject
  10. spring — the season
  11. march — the month
  12. row — to paddle
  13. lie — to recline
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. snap — to click
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — of water
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. dip — to sink
  21. row — a line
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. march — music

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