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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bulb — for light
  5. game — a match
  6. spring — the season
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — ground
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. game — wild animals
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — of water
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bulb — for light
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. land — a country
  20. capital — a city
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. capital — money
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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