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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rash — hasty
  4. mug — a face
  5. file — a document
  6. mug — a cup
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. last — finally
  9. sharp — clever
  10. last — to go on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rash — a series
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — final
  15. mug — to rob
  16. file — a line of people
  17. present — there
  18. capital — money
  19. present — a gift
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — an illness
  24. capital — a city

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