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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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468
Word bank
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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. drill — a practice
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. capital — a city
  5. wind — moving air
  6. swing — to play on
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. swing — music
  9. drill — army training
  10. pit — a hole
  11. swing — in golf
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. pit — in a race
  14. kick — in football
  15. shower — to wash
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — money
  22. ball — a dance
  23. shower — rain
  24. drill — the 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