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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. capital — a city
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. row — to paddle
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. rule — government
  13. sharp — clever
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stem — to come from
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. game — a match
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. capital — money
  23. rule — a law
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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