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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · hide · present · capital · straw · spring

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. present — a gift
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. spring — of water
  5. capital — money
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. capital — a city
  8. cell — in biology
  9. present — there
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. spring — a coil
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. spring — the season
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. hide — to keep secret

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