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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. wound — an injury
  3. roll — a cake
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. rule — government
  6. roll — a list
  7. pound — a weight
  8. capital — money
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. sharp — clever
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. capital — a city
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. wound — an injury
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. rule — a law
  23. file — a document
  24. temple — a place of worship

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