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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: mate · row · mark · press · march · spring · wound · face

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. march — the month
  3. wound — an injury
  4. row — a line
  5. march — music
  6. mate — a friend
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — part of the head
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. mate — a partner
  12. face — to confront
  13. press — a publisher
  14. spring — a coil
  15. press — newspapers
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. march — the month
  19. press — to push
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mate — to breed
  22. spring — the season
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mark — a trace

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