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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. capital — a city
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. court — for sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. spring — a coil
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stem — to come from
  16. wake — a trail
  17. capital — money
  18. spring — of water
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. court — of a king
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. court — of law
  23. spring — the season
  24. wake — before a funeral

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