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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ground — a position
  3. capital — a city
  4. ground — the earth
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. march — the month
  7. spring — of water
  8. degree — an amount
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. spring — the season
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. ground — crushed
  13. capital — money
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. march — the month
  16. race — a contest
  17. fine — all right
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — the arms race
  21. degree — temperature
  22. race — humankind
  23. fine — high quality
  24. march — music

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