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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 · clip · stick · mug · ball · mine · rush

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. capital — money
  3. spring — of water
  4. mug — a face
  5. rush — hurry
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mug — a cup
  12. spring — the season
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mug — to rob
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. capital — a city

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