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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 124 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. degree — from a university
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — a city
  5. track — a path
  6. pop — music
  7. spring — of water
  8. track — a song
  9. pop — to visit
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. capital — money
  14. track — to keep track
  15. cap — of ice
  16. tear — to rip
  17. cap — a hat
  18. degree — temperature
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cap — a lid
  22. pop — soda
  23. spring — the season
  24. tear — from crying

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