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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. object — an aim
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. object — to protest
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. spring — a coil
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. object — a thing
  10. spring — of water
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rock — music
  14. capital — money
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. stand — to bear
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. spring — the season
  19. rock — a stone
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. calf — a young animal

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