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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. band — a ring
  4. cell — in biology
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. bound — certain
  7. rock — music
  8. bound — obliged
  9. field — farmland
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. field — a subject
  12. capital — money
  13. rock — a stone
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cell — a phone
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bound — tied together
  18. band — a music group
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. spring — the season
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. capital — a city
  23. field — for sport
  24. rock — to move gently

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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