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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. clip — a video
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bound — obliged
  8. capital — a city
  9. bound — certain
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. branch — a division
  15. bound — tied together
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. snap — to click
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. spring — a coil
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. capital — money

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