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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 116 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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — the animal
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. season — in sport
  12. saw — the tool
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. saw — the tool
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. capital — a city
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — of water
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. perch — the fish
  22. capital — money
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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