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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spring — the season
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. row — a line
  7. wax — to grow
  8. spring — a coil
  9. land — to come down
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. march — the month
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. row — to paddle
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. land — a country
  17. spring — of water
  18. plane — a tool
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. march — music
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. land — ground

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