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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 120 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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — a city
  4. race — humankind
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — to breed
  11. lean — to bend
  12. race — a contest
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. race — the arms race
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. spring — the season
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. capital — money
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. lean — thin
  22. spring — a coil
  23. mate — a friend
  24. spring — of water

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