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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: cap · game · march · spring · key · tear · lie · wind

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. spring — of water
  5. game — wild animals
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cap — a lid
  10. spring — the season
  11. game — a match
  12. wind — moving air
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. key — for a lock
  15. lie — to recline
  16. cap — of ice
  17. key — the most important part
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. key — in music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lie — an untruth

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