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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  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 — for golf
  3. club — a group
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — a coil
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. spring — of water
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. race — a contest
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. lean — to bend
  13. club — for dancing
  14. land — a country
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. lean — thin
  18. capital — a city
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. land — ground
  21. rush — hurry
  22. land — to come down
  23. trunk — of a tree
  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