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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.

Make a worksheet

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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. capital — a city
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. staff — a stick
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. staff — employees
  15. game — wild animals
  16. staff — employees
  17. march — the month
  18. capital — money

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