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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 116 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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cold — an illness
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pound — a weight
  6. prune — to trim
  7. spring — the season
  8. key — for a lock
  9. march — music
  10. mark — a trace
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. key — the most important part
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spring — of water
  16. mark — a grade
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — a coil
  23. march — the month
  24. key — in music

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