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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 116 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. perch — the fish
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rash — hasty
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. game — a match
  12. row — a line
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. rash — a series
  15. stem — to come from
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. file — a document
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. game — wild animals
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. file — a tool

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