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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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. object — an aim
  2. can — a tin
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. hand — in cards
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. can — a tin
  10. spring — the season
  11. object — to protest
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. can — to be able to
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. object — a thing
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — help
  19. ball — a dance
  20. spring — of water
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mine — for digging
  23. spring — a coil
  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