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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — a city
  6. spring — of water
  7. land — a country
  8. spring — the season
  9. vault — a safe
  10. land — ground
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bulb — for light
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hand — in cards
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bulb — for light
  19. land — to come down
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. fall — to drop
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. hand — help

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