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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. kid — to tease
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. lean — thin
  6. kid — child
  7. spring — of water
  8. capital — money
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — a short time
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — a container
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tube — the underground
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spell — magic
  19. drill — a practice
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. lean — to bend
  23. spring — a coil
  24. capital — a city

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