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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. snap — to click
  3. capital — a city
  4. root — of a plant
  5. present — there
  6. spring — a coil
  7. present — the time now
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — an amount
  12. present — a gift
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. degree — temperature
  16. root — of a word
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. degree — from a university
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. lie — to recline
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. root — the cause
  24. capital — money

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