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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 120 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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. hand — help
  6. wake — a trail
  7. swing — music
  8. court — for sport
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. ground — the earth
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. capital — a city
  15. chest — of your body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. ground — crushed
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. ground — a position
  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