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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 120 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. club — a group
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. fine — high quality
  7. spring — of water
  8. capital — a city
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. capital — money
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. club — for dancing
  13. fine — all right
  14. club — for golf
  15. bark — to shout
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wax — to grow
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a ring
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. capital — a big letter

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