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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pop — to visit
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spell — a short time
  6. capital — a city
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. spell — letters
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. capital — money
  16. rock — music
  17. pop — music
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. court — of law
  20. spell — magic
  21. rock — a stone
  22. deal — to handle
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. bat — in an idiom

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