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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. tube — a container
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — money
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. capital — a city
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bank — for money
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. tube — the underground
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bank — for money
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. bank — of a river
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. mine — an explosive
  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