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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 120 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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — a city
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. rash — hasty
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. net — in sport
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. capital — money
  10. net — after costs
  11. pass — a permit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — of water
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — for light
  16. clip — a video
  17. rash — a series
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. spring — a coil
  21. net — for catching
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — for paper

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