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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. present — a gift
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rash — hasty
  8. ball — a great time
  9. tube — a container
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rash — a series
  12. present — there
  13. capital — a city
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a hole
  17. ball — a dance
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. tube — the underground
  22. kid — child
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. present — the time now

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