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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. mug — a cup
  4. spring — of water
  5. board — a committee
  6. rule — a law
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. mug — a face
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stem — to come from
  11. march — the month
  12. land — ground
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. rule — government
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spring — the season
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — a country
  21. mug — to rob
  22. board — to get on
  23. cell — in biology
  24. march — 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