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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 124 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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. capital — money
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. scale — size or range
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. tear — from crying
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. drill — army training
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. drill — a practice
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. scale — in music
  24. drill — the tool

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