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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: squash · root · clip · face · spring · capital · bound · club

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. squash — the sport
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — to cut
  5. club — for dancing
  6. face — to confront
  7. club — for golf
  8. face — to point toward
  9. root — the cause
  10. capital — a city
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bound — tied together
  14. face — part of the head
  15. root — of a word
  16. clip — a video
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bound — certain
  19. root — of a plant
  20. clip — for paper
  21. club — a group
  22. capital — money
  23. bound — obliged
  24. spring — of water

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