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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. march — the month
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. club — for dancing
  8. march — music
  9. club — for golf
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. race — humankind
  12. saw — the tool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. spell — letters
  15. march — the month
  16. race — a contest
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. club — a group
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. spell — magic

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