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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fall — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. capital — a city
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. fall — to drop
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rash — hasty
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — money
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. squash — to crush

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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