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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. fork — in a road
  3. spring — of water
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. present — there
  7. march — music
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. spring — the season
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. band — a music group
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. band — a ring
  19. spring — a coil
  20. file — a line of people
  21. present — a gift
  22. march — the month
  23. present — the time now
  24. mouse — for a computer

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