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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 124 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. dip — to sink
  3. spell — a short time
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. club — for dancing
  6. bass — low music
  7. file — a document
  8. snap — to click
  9. spell — letters
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. club — a group
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. land — ground
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. land — to come down
  17. bass — the fish
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. club — for golf
  21. land — a country
  22. capital — money
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. spell — magic

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