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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bass — the fish
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. capital — a city
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — the season
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spring — a coil
  12. row — to paddle
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. capital — money
  15. court — for sport
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. court — of a king
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. court — of law
  22. bass — low music
  23. spring — of water
  24. hide — to keep secret

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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