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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bass — low music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. field — for sport
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rush — hurry
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — of water
  13. rule — a law
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — to sink
  18. bass — the fish
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. capital — a city
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. cell — a phone
  23. rule — government
  24. field — a subject

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