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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. wind — moving air
  3. sharp — clever
  4. firm — a company
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. firm — decided
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. firm — steady
  10. capital — a city
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. season — of the year
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. season — in sport
  15. ball — a dance
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. ball — a great time
  19. capital — money
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. rash — a series

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