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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. capital — money
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ball — a dance
  5. capital — a city
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. ball — a great time
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. bear — the animal
  13. last — finally
  14. last — to go on
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. last — final
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. cold — an illness
  20. scale — in music
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bear — the animal
  23. scale — size or range
  24. sharp — exactly

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