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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pop — soda
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — wild animals
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — of water
  10. land — ground
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. game — a match
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — the season
  17. rest — a break
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rest — what's left
  20. march — music
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. land — a country

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