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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cold — an illness
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mate — a partner
  7. club — a group
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cap — of ice
  14. club — for golf
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — money
  18. shower — rain
  19. mate — to breed
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bowl — a dish

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