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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. capital — a city
  3. spring — a coil
  4. prune — to trim
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. race — a contest
  7. face — part of the head
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. prune — to trim
  11. face — to confront
  12. club — a group
  13. race — the arms race
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. capital — money
  16. season — of the year
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. season — in sport
  19. race — humankind
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. club — for golf
  22. face — to point toward
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — the season

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