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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. net — in sport
  7. land — a country
  8. key — in music
  9. key — for a lock
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — after costs
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — steady
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. capital — money
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bark — to shout
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. firm — a company
  21. land — ground
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. land — to come down

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