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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. scale — in music
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. land — to come down
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. land — ground
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. squash — the sport
  15. saw — the tool
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. scale — size or range
  18. saw — the tool
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. capital — a city
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. capital — money
  24. land — a country

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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