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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bass — low music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bass — the fish
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. ground — the earth
  8. capital — money
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bound — certain
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. staff — employees
  17. bound — obliged
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. staff — a stick
  21. bound — tied together
  22. staff — employees
  23. spring — the season
  24. stem — of a plant

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