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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. ball — a dance
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. land — to come down
  8. ball — a great time
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wake — a trail
  12. kick — in football
  13. pitch — completely
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. tear — to rip
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. tear — from crying

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