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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. march — music
  3. cap — a hat
  4. wound — an injury
  5. march — the month
  6. face — to confront
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. spring — of water
  12. face — part of the head
  13. march — the month
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bound — certain
  16. cap — of ice
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. bound — tied together
  22. fine — high quality
  23. bound — obliged
  24. fine — a penalty

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