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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mine — for digging
  4. last — finally
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. rule — a law
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. rule — government
  9. last — final
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. march — music
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. spring — the season
  15. current — happening now
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. wind — moving air
  18. march — the month
  19. current — electric
  20. last — to go on
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. spring — of water
  23. current — of water
  24. mine — an explosive

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