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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. game — a match
  5. foot — a measure
  6. mark — a trace
  7. fall — to drop
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. game — wild animals
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. row — a line
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mark — a grade
  15. capital — money
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. snap — to click
  24. row — to paddle

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