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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — the time now
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. court — for sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rash — a series
  9. court — of a king
  10. capital — a city
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. capital — money
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. court — of law
  16. wake — a trail
  17. rule — government
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. rule — a law
  20. rash — hasty
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chest — a box
  23. present — there
  24. rule — to rule out

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