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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. land — ground
  4. ball — a dance
  5. spring — a coil
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. last — finally
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. last — to go on
  13. ball — a great time
  14. capital — a city
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — for light
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. plane — a tool
  23. last — final
  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