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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 116 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: rock · ground · spring · march · wind · cell · snap · fan

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. ground — the earth
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. snap — to click
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — the month
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rock — music
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. spring — of water
  18. ground — a position
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wind — moving air
  22. march — the month
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rock — a stone

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