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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rock — music
  5. net — in sport
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. net — after costs
  9. bore — to drill
  10. season — in sport
  11. capital — a city
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. capital — money
  16. land — to come down
  17. net — for catching
  18. rock — a stone
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. season — of the year
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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