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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. spring — of water
  3. bark — to shout
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — money
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a partner
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spring — the season
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. spring — a coil
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. arm — a part of something

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