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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ground — a position
  3. present — a gift
  4. ground — crushed
  5. band — a ring
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. band — a music group
  8. pass — a permit
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — the fish
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bass — low music
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. present — there
  21. capital — money
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. present — the time now
  24. ground — the earth

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