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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rule — a law
  7. club — for golf
  8. spring — of water
  9. perch — the fish
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. spring — the season
  13. club — for dancing
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. club — a group
  16. spring — a coil
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. capital — money

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