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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 116 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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — of ice
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. spring — the season
  8. bound — obliged
  9. capital — a city
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. spring — of water
  13. capital — money
  14. court — of a king
  15. tube — the underground
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bound — certain
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. tube — a container
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bound — tied together
  22. cap — a lid
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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