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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. lean — thin
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. spring — the season
  5. pass — a permit
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. land — ground
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. land — to come down
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. spring — a coil
  12. capital — a city
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. land — a country
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rule — government
  21. capital — money
  22. lean — to bend
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rule — a law

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