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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. suit — in cards
  3. band — a music group
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. capital — a city
  6. present — the time now
  7. land — ground
  8. band — a ring
  9. present — there
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. land — a country
  13. pit — a hole
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. lie — to recline
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. suit — to fit
  18. suit — clothes
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pit — in a race
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. land — to come down

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