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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. capital — a city
  3. land — ground
  4. kid — to tease
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. present — a gift
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. present — there
  12. capital — money
  13. kid — child
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. present — the time now
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. land — to come down
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. land — a country

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