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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. spring — of water
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rock — music
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. scale — size or range
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — music
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. spring — a coil
  14. field — for sport
  15. scale — in music
  16. march — the month
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. field — farmland
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. march — the month
  22. rock — a stone
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — the season

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