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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 124 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. wind — moving air
  3. club — for golf
  4. lean — to bend
  5. capital — money
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. lean — thin
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fork — in a road
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. club — a group
  14. capital — a city
  15. club — for dancing
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. wind — moving air
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. spring — the season
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. fork — a garden tool

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