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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. capital — a city
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. scale — size or range
  7. spell — a short time
  8. scale — in music
  9. race — humankind
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lean — thin
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. spell — magic
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. spell — letters
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — the animal
  21. race — a contest
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. race — the arms race
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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