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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. suit — clothes
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bound — obliged
  8. suit — to fit
  9. bound — tied together
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. suit — in cards
  12. capital — money
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bound — certain
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cold — an illness

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