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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. spring — of water
  3. staff — employees
  4. season — in sport
  5. land — to come down
  6. squash — to crush
  7. land — ground
  8. staff — a stick
  9. land — a country
  10. rest — a break
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. spring — a coil
  13. squash — the sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. spring — the season
  18. rest — what's left
  19. capital — a city
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. season — of the year
  23. staff — employees
  24. rest — what's left

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