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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bass — low music
  3. spring — of water
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mug — a cup
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mug — a face
  11. kid — child
  12. spring — the season
  13. bass — the fish
  14. capital — a city
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mug — to rob
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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