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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. game — wild animals
  4. row — to paddle
  5. dip — to sink
  6. spell — a short time
  7. game — a match
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. saw — the tool
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. cell — in biology
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. row — a line
  17. spell — letters
  18. cell — a phone
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. saw — the tool
  21. spell — magic
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. rush — hurry

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