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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. pass — a permit
  3. court — of law
  4. file — a document
  5. spring — of water
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spring — a coil
  9. file — a line of people
  10. capital — a city
  11. court — of a king
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. net — for catching
  14. bore — to drill
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bore — to tire
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. net — after costs
  20. court — for sport
  21. spring — the season
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. net — in sport
  24. capital — money

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