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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. game — a match
  5. capital — a city
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. rock — a stone
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cap — a lid
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mine — for digging
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cap — a hat
  18. game — wild animals
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. rock — music
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cap — of ice

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