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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bat — the animal
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rock — music
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rash — a series
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rest — a break
  20. net — after costs
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. net — in sport
  24. rock — to move gently

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