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

Word bank: spring · cell · plane · wind · stick · capital

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cell — in biology
  3. capital — money
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. plane — a tool
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spring — a coil
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. spring — the season
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cell — a phone
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. capital — a city
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. wind — moving air

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