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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. key — the most important part
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. cold — an illness
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — in music
  11. spring — of water
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. march — the month
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. march — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. field — a subject
  21. spring — the season
  22. field — farmland
  23. spring — a coil
  24. field — for 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