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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wake — a trail
  8. court — for sport
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bat — the animal
  11. court — of a king
  12. game — wild animals
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rush — hurry
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. capital — a city
  24. court — of law

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