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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. present — a gift
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. spring — the season
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — money
  13. spring — a coil
  14. kid — child
  15. pit — in a race
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. kid — to tease
  19. present — there
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — to eat
  22. chip — for betting
  23. spring — of water
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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