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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. swing — music
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. swing — to play on
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. squash — the sport
  9. swing — in golf
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cold — an illness
  12. capital — a city
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. capital — money
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. capital — a big letter

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