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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. clip — for paper
  3. march — the month
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. spring — a coil
  6. wake — a trail
  7. capital — a city
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — to protest
  21. spring — the season
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. object — an aim
  24. march — music

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