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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rule — a law
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. file — a line of people
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. file — a document
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. file — a tool
  22. pound — a weight
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rule — government

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