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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. roll — a cake
  3. ground — crushed
  4. capital — money
  5. ground — a position
  6. scale — in music
  7. net — after costs
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — size or range
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. ground — the earth
  16. roll — a list
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. net — for catching
  19. club — for golf
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. net — in sport
  24. straw — dry grass

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