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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — of water
  5. tear — from crying
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. spring — a coil
  14. key — in music
  15. prune — to trim
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — the most important part
  18. club — a group
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. capital — a city
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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