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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. spring — of water
  3. charge — in control
  4. present — the time now
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. track — to keep track
  8. present — a gift
  9. track — a path
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. capital — a city
  12. kid — child
  13. capital — money
  14. stem — to come from
  15. spring — the season
  16. charge — a price
  17. track — a song
  18. charge — electricity
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kid — to tease
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. present — there
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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