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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — a law
  4. capital — a city
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. ball — a dance
  7. ball — a great time
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. prune — to trim
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. capital — money
  16. scale — in music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. prune — to trim

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