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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: shower · spring · fork · march · bound · mouse · plane · stand

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. bound — obliged
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. stand — to bear
  6. shower — to wash
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. spring — the season
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bound — tied together
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. shower — rain
  14. march — the month
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bound — certain
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. spring — of water
  21. march — music
  22. plane — a tool
  23. spring — a coil
  24. mouse — for a computer

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