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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. capital — a city
  3. present — a gift
  4. bound — certain
  5. present — there
  6. drill — army training
  7. file — a document
  8. band — a ring
  9. bound — obliged
  10. file — a tool
  11. spring — the season
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. club — for dancing
  15. present — the time now
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spring — a coil
  18. club — a group
  19. club — for golf
  20. drill — the tool
  21. bound — tied together
  22. drill — a practice
  23. capital — money
  24. spring — of water

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