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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 120 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 shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. net — in sport
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. march — the month
  6. file — a tool
  7. snap — to click
  8. net — after costs
  9. file — a document
  10. capital — a city
  11. march — the month
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. capital — money
  14. lie — to recline
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. fine — all right
  17. net — for catching
  18. bank — for money
  19. bank — for money
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. march — music
  22. file — a line of people
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bank — of a river

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