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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: capital · spring · fall · cabinet · rule · staff · hand · foot

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. rule — government
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. hand — help
  10. fall — to drop
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. staff — a stick
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. capital — a city
  15. staff — employees
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. capital — money
  18. fall — the season
  19. rule — a law
  20. staff — employees
  21. foot — a measure
  22. spring — a coil
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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