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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. scale — in music
  4. capital — money
  5. scale — size or range
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. fine — all right
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. capital — a city
  18. fine — a penalty

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