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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bat — the animal
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. file — a document
  6. pound — a weight
  7. spell — magic
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. kick — in football
  10. capital — money
  11. spell — letters
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. file — a tool
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. object — an aim
  16. spell — a short time
  17. object — a thing
  18. file — a line of people
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. capital — a city
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — for a computer

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