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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. file — a document
  4. ball — a dance
  5. pop — music
  6. capital — a city
  7. ball — a great time
  8. fall — the season
  9. file — a tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. shower — rain
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. fall — to drop
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. file — a line of people
  17. shower — to wash
  18. pop — soda
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. pass — a permit
  22. capital — money
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pop — to visit

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