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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 116 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. mine — for digging
  4. capital — money
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — in biology
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rash — a series
  10. wind — moving air
  11. capital — a city
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. mug — a face
  16. pit — a hole
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a cup
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pit — in a race

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