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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. track — a path
  4. hand — in cards
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. capital — money
  12. prune — to trim
  13. track — a song
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. press — a publisher
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cell — in biology
  18. hand — help
  19. press — to push
  20. press — newspapers
  21. rush — hurry
  22. track — to keep track
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cell — a phone

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