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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: capital · spring · date · pop · wind · mark · hide · cell

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. date — the fruit
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pop — soda
  6. capital — money
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. mark — a trace
  9. capital — a city
  10. pop — music
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. spring — of water
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. pop — to visit
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. spring — the season
  19. mark — a grade
  20. cell — in biology
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. capital — a big letter

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