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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. capital — a city
  3. tube — the underground
  4. drill — the tool
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. drill — army training
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tube — a container
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wind — moving air
  13. capital — money
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. land — to come down
  16. wind — moving air
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. date — the fruit
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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