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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. capital — a city
  3. mate — to breed
  4. ground — crushed
  5. foot — a measure
  6. mate — a friend
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. scale — size or range
  10. clip — for paper
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. rush — hurry
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. ground — the earth
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. clip — a video
  18. ground — a position
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. mate — a partner
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fork — in a road
  24. scale — in music

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