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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — help
  6. tear — from crying
  7. suit — to fit
  8. mark — a trace
  9. capital — a city
  10. bass — the fish
  11. suit — in cards
  12. spring — the season
  13. capital — money
  14. bass — low music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hand — in cards
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. tear — to rip
  21. suit — clothes
  22. land — a country
  23. mark — a grade
  24. land — to come down

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