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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bass — the fish
  3. fall — to drop
  4. file — a line of people
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. fall — the season
  7. present — a gift
  8. spring — of water
  9. season — in sport
  10. bass — low music
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. file — a document
  13. season — of the year
  14. capital — a city
  15. fall — to drop
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. capital — money
  19. present — the time now
  20. spring — the season
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. file — a tool
  24. spring — a coil

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