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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. staff — employees
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — a country
  8. land — ground
  9. present — there
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bat — the animal
  12. fine — all right
  13. capital — a city
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — a gift
  16. staff — a stick
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. land — to come down
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cell — in biology
  24. dip — to dunk

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