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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. scale — size or range
  5. drill — a practice
  6. scale — in music
  7. capital — money
  8. saw — the tool
  9. shower — rain
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — after costs
  12. game — a match
  13. saw — the tool
  14. shower — to wash
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. net — in sport
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. game — wild animals
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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