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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. drill — army training
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. capital — a city
  8. season — of the year
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stem — to come from
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. season — in sport
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. drill — the tool
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. drill — a practice
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. capital — money
  23. shower — rain
  24. mine — belonging to me

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