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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. scale — in music
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. rule — government
  5. capital — money
  6. prune — to trim
  7. fine — all right
  8. rash — hasty
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — size or range
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. capital — a city
  13. shower — rain
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. shower — to wash
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rule — a law
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. snap — to click
  22. rash — a series
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. fine — high quality

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