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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. club — a group
  3. press — to push
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. press — a publisher
  7. club — for golf
  8. ball — a great time
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. file — a tool
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. ball — a dance
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. club — for dancing
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. press — newspapers
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rest — what's left
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. file — a document

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