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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. capital — money
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. capital — a city
  8. last — finally
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bat — the animal
  12. scale — size or range
  13. shower — to wash
  14. last — final
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. last — to go on
  19. shower — rain
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. scale — in music
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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