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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — the season
  6. bat — the animal
  7. snap — to click
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. net — in sport
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. season — in sport
  14. kid — child
  15. net — for catching
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. spring — a coil
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. spring — of water
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. season — of the year

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