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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — a city
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. degree — from a university
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. capital — money
  15. net — after costs
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. fork — in a road
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. spring — the season
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. spring — a coil

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