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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. capital — money
  6. game — a match
  7. capital — a city
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rock — a stone
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. pound — a weight
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. spring — the season
  18. game — wild animals
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rock — music
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. spring — of water
  23. bat — the animal
  24. capital — a big letter

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