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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 120 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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. game — wild animals
  3. capital — a city
  4. game — a match
  5. mug — a cup
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. last — final
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — the season
  12. mug — a face
  13. pass — a permit
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. capital — money
  16. last — finally
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mug — to rob
  19. last — to go on
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. spring — of water
  23. bear — the animal
  24. capital — a big letter

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