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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. club — for golf
  3. capital — money
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. club — a group
  7. present — the time now
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cell — a phone
  10. capital — a city
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. club — for dancing
  13. present — a gift
  14. present — there
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. row — to paddle
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. row — a line

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