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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 120 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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. deal — to handle
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bound — tied together
  4. present — a gift
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — obliged
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — a city
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. kid — to tease
  13. present — the time now
  14. shower — to wash
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. present — there
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. shower — rain
  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