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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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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: spring · wind · ground · wave · staff · capital · game · snap

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. ground — crushed
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. ground — a position
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. game — a match
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. capital — a city
  12. ground — the earth
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. game — wild animals
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. spring — the season
  18. capital — money
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. staff — employees

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