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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fine — all right
  3. bass — low music
  4. capital — a city
  5. present — a gift
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bass — the fish
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mate — to breed
  11. hand — help
  12. mate — a partner
  13. capital — money
  14. drill — army training
  15. fine — high quality
  16. present — the time now
  17. spell — letters
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. present — there
  20. mate — a friend
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. spell — magic
  24. hand — in cards

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