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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: rule · spring · spell · squash · sharp · hand · cap · ground

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. cap — a lid
  3. ground — crushed
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. rule — a law
  6. cap — a hat
  7. spell — letters
  8. ground — a position
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. spring — of water
  11. hand — help
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spring — the season
  15. cap — of ice
  16. squash — to crush
  17. sharp — clever
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. spring — a coil
  22. squash — the sport
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. ground — the earth

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