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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. charge — electricity
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. bat — the animal
  7. capital — a city
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. scale — in music
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ball — a dance
  14. scale — size or range
  15. file — a line of people
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. season — of the year
  20. charge — a price
  21. charge — in control
  22. season — in sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ball — a great time

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