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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  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. capital — a city
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rest — a break
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — money
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rash — hasty
  19. deal — to handle
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wind — moving air
  23. capital — a big letter
  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