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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 116 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — a city
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. capital — money
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. sharp — clever
  14. file — a document
  15. press — a publisher
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — to push
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. rush — hurry
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. file — a tool

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