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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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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: vault · game · present · mine · ground · spring · capital · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spring — of water
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. capital — a city
  11. game — wild animals
  12. present — there
  13. capital — money
  14. ground — the earth
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. vault — a safe
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — a gift
  19. squash — the sport
  20. game — a match
  21. ground — crushed
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. ground — a position

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