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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cold — an illness
  4. land — a country
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. club — for golf
  10. pop — to visit
  11. land — ground
  12. pop — soda
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. capital — money
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bank — for money
  20. club — a group
  21. pop — music
  22. land — to come down
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bank — for money

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