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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. bound — certain
  4. fine — all right
  5. bound — obliged
  6. fine — high quality
  7. capital — money
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. scale — in music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bound — tied together
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. object — to protest
  15. swing — to play on
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. object — an aim
  19. scale — size or range
  20. cold — an illness
  21. swing — in golf
  22. object — a thing
  23. swing — music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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