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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. tube — a container
  4. spring — a coil
  5. tube — the underground
  6. spring — of water
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. clip — a video
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. capital — a city
  12. mate — a partner
  13. can — a tin
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. clip — to cut
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — to breed
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — money
  23. spring — the season
  24. racket — a loud noise

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