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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  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 — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. file — a line of people
  4. hand — help
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. last — finally
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — money
  10. staff — employees
  11. land — ground
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. last — to go on
  14. hand — in cards
  15. land — a country
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. staff — employees
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. staff — a stick
  21. land — to come down
  22. pass — a permit
  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