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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — money
  5. scale — size or range
  6. fall — to drop
  7. track — a path
  8. capital — a city
  9. ball — a dance
  10. track — a song
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. chest — of your body
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ball — a great time
  16. scale — in music
  17. chest — a box
  18. game — wild animals
  19. track — to keep track
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. fall — the season
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. nail — on a finger

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