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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cap — a lid
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pound — a weight
  6. can — a tin
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. shower — to wash
  10. court — for sport
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. cap — of ice
  13. court — of a king
  14. capital — a city
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cap — a hat
  19. can — a tin
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — of water
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. can — to be able to
  24. court — of 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