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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. capital — a city
  3. land — a country
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. cap — of ice
  6. toast — bread
  7. date — the fruit
  8. court — for sport
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. court — of a king
  11. perch — the fish
  12. court — of law
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cap — a lid
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. land — ground
  17. cap — a hat
  18. land — to come down
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. kick — in football
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. toast — the most admired

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