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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. spring — a coil
  4. file — a tool
  5. capital — money
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. firm — a company
  8. firm — decided
  9. file — a line of people
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. file — a document
  12. firm — steady
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. ground — the earth
  15. capital — a city
  16. spring — the season
  17. ground — crushed
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. ground — a position
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. stand — on your feet

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