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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 will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — of water
  4. net — for catching
  5. spring — the season
  6. clip — to cut
  7. suit — to fit
  8. stock — goods
  9. clip — for paper
  10. game — a match
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. net — in sport
  13. spring — a coil
  14. march — music
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stock — shares
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. suit — in cards
  21. clip — a video
  22. net — after costs
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. suit — clothes

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