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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. capital — a city
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. date — the fruit
  13. rule — government
  14. file — a tool
  15. rule — a law
  16. file — a document
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bat — the animal
  22. capital — money
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bowl — to roll

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