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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. court — for sport
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chip — to eat
  6. spell — a short time
  7. chest — of your body
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — of a king
  10. toast — bread
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — money
  14. chest — of your body
  15. spell — letters
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. capital — a city
  20. court — of law
  21. spell — magic
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chest — a box

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