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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. row — to paddle
  3. rule — a law
  4. ball — a great time
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. key — in music
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. capital — money
  12. row — a line
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. shower — rain
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — the most important part
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. ball — a dance

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