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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. march — the month
  3. file — a tool
  4. net — after costs
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. shower — to wash
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. shower — rain
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. file — a document
  13. capital — money
  14. file — a line of people
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. net — in sport
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. pound — a weight
  19. capital — a city
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. net — for catching

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