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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — of water
  4. current — happening now
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. net — for catching
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — the season
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. field — for sport
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. field — farmland
  20. scale — size or range
  21. field — a subject
  22. spring — a coil
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — in sport

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