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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. season — of the year
  3. club — a group
  4. can — a tin
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — an illness
  7. game — wild animals
  8. mug — a face
  9. season — in sport
  10. march — music
  11. can — to be able to
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. cold — not warm
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — for dancing
  16. mug — a cup
  17. game — a match
  18. mug — to rob
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. can — a tin

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