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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. tube — the underground
  3. land — ground
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. perch — the fish
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. season — of the year
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. fine — all right
  14. tube — a container
  15. land — to come down
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. kid — child
  20. capital — money
  21. fine — high quality
  22. land — a country
  23. season — in sport
  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