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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. press — newspapers
  4. capital — money
  5. kid — to tease
  6. saw — the tool
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. capital — a city
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. scale — in music
  12. spring — a coil
  13. kid — child
  14. saw — the tool
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. file — a document
  18. press — a publisher
  19. perch — the fish
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. file — a tool
  23. press — to push
  24. file — a line of people

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