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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 116 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. perch — the fish
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — money
  13. tube — the underground
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. tube — a container
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — soda
  18. cold — the Cold War

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