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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. land — a country
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. spell — letters
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. wake — a trail
  8. spell — magic
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. land — to come down
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bear — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. land — ground
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. chest — a box
  20. bear — the animal
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. capital — a city
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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