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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: pop · march · charge · bat · rock · tube · spring · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. charge — a price
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rock — a stone
  5. march — the month
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. pop — music
  8. charge — in control
  9. charge — electricity
  10. tube — a container
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rock — music
  13. pop — to visit
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pop — soda
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. spring — of water
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. spring — the season
  23. march — the month
  24. march — music

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