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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. spring — a coil
  4. capital — money
  5. drill — the tool
  6. lean — thin
  7. drill — army training
  8. capital — a city
  9. lean — to bend
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. spring — of water
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. saw — the tool
  17. current — happening now
  18. mine — for digging
  19. current — of water
  20. saw — the tool
  21. current — electric
  22. spring — the season
  23. drill — a practice
  24. dip — to sink

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