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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kick — in football
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. pop — music
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tube — a container
  9. pop — soda
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. capital — a city
  12. rash — hasty
  13. capital — money
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. track — to keep track
  18. pop — to visit
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. rash — a series
  21. tube — the underground
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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