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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. dip — to sink
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. scale — size or range
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. date — the fruit
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. capital — a city
  14. scale — in music
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. mine — for digging
  18. capital — money
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. plane — a tool
  24. racket — for tennis

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