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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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. fine — all right
  4. wake — a trail
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. pop — soda
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — a city
  10. fall — the season
  11. fine — high quality
  12. march — music
  13. cell — in biology
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pop — to visit
  16. fall — to drop
  17. capital — money
  18. march — the month
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cell — a phone
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. pop — music
  23. spell — a short time
  24. fine — a penalty

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