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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a city
  7. band — a music group
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — money
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. wind — moving air
  20. rash — a series
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. band — a ring

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