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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — the season
  3. track — a song
  4. press — newspapers
  5. snap — to click
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. chest — a box
  9. press — to push
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. scale — size or range
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bark — to shout
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. capital — a city
  20. press — a publisher
  21. scale — in music
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. spring — of water

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