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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. capital — money
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cell — a phone
  6. net — in sport
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cell — in biology
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. bound — certain
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. net — after costs
  13. fork — in a road
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. net — for catching
  16. bound — obliged
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pound — a weight
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. spring — of water
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. bound — tied together
  24. spring — the season

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