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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chip — to eat
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — money
  7. pitch — completely
  8. rash — hasty
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. last — to go on
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. stem — to come from
  14. rash — a series
  15. last — final
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. spring — the season
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. last — finally
  20. spring — a coil
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. chip — for betting
  24. pitch — a sports field

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