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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a great time
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wind — moving air
  5. capital — a city
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. capital — money
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. current — electric
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. row — to paddle
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. row — a line
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. current — happening now
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. current — of water

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