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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. capital — money
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. spring — of water
  8. capital — a city
  9. cap — a lid
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. dip — to sink
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bat — the animal
  20. spring — the season
  21. rest — a break
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. rest — what's left

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