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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. staff — a stick
  3. spring — the season
  4. staff — employees
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a line of people
  7. staff — employees
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. land — to come down
  11. club — a group
  12. branch — a division
  13. spring — a coil
  14. plane — a tool
  15. spring — of water
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. land — ground
  19. club — for golf
  20. capital — money
  21. land — a country
  22. file — a tool
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. club — for dancing

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