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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. spring — of water
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. capital — money
  5. drill — the tool
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. present — the time now
  10. drill — army training
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. spring — the season
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. present — there
  16. wound — an injury
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. drill — a practice
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. pass — a permit
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. present — a gift
  24. capital — a city

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