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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 124 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. drill — the tool
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bass — low music
  6. tube — a container
  7. spring — the season
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — the month
  10. ground — a position
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — a coil
  14. march — music
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. plane — a tool
  20. tube — the underground
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. spring — of water
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. ground — the earth

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