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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. band — a ring
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spring — the season
  9. fine — high quality
  10. craft — boats
  11. capital — a city
  12. fork — in a road
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. band — a music group
  16. kid — child
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. fine — all right
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. craft — a skill
  23. kid — to tease
  24. spring — a coil

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