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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — of water
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fork — in a road
  7. spring — a coil
  8. mate — to breed
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. rash — a series
  11. capital — money
  12. mate — a partner
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — to handle
  15. capital — a city
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. spring — the season
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. rash — hasty
  24. mate — a friend

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