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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: saw · scale · hand · pop · mine · mark · spring · march

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — of water
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. hand — help
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. mark — a grade
  10. pop — soda
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. hand — in cards
  14. scale — size or range
  15. march — the month
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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