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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. spring — a coil
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. vault — a safe
  8. file — a line of people
  9. present — the time now
  10. spring — of water
  11. present — there
  12. capital — a city
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. file — a document
  15. clip — to cut
  16. present — a gift
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — a video
  20. capital — money
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. clip — for paper

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