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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. swing — to play on
  4. land — to come down
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. game — a match
  7. swing — in golf
  8. game — wild animals
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. swing — music
  11. land — a country
  12. capital — a city
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — money
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. land — ground
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. pit — in a race
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. pit — a hole
  24. leaves — of a tree

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