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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. capital — money
  3. hand — help
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. spell — a short time
  7. capital — a city
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. club — for dancing
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. ground — the earth
  13. spell — letters
  14. land — ground
  15. club — for golf
  16. dip — to sink
  17. land — to come down
  18. club — a group
  19. hand — in cards
  20. land — a country
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — clever
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — crushed

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