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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. race — the arms race
  6. fall — to drop
  7. ball — a great time
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. row — to paddle
  12. capital — a city
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bear — the animal
  17. race — humankind
  18. bear — the animal
  19. row — a line
  20. saw — the tool
  21. race — a contest
  22. capital — money
  23. fall — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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