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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. march — the month
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bulb — for light
  11. last — final
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. capital — money
  14. spring — the season
  15. last — finally
  16. fork — in a road
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. last — to go on
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. capital — a city
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. capital — a big letter

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