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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: club · dip · face · cap · scale · march · spring · staff

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — the season
  4. staff — employees
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. cap — of ice
  7. staff — a stick
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cap — a lid
  11. march — the month
  12. face — part of the head
  13. scale — in music
  14. spring — of water
  15. face — to confront
  16. club — for golf
  17. march — music
  18. scale — size or range
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. cap — a hat
  21. club — a group
  22. dip — to sink
  23. face — to point toward
  24. staff — employees

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