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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 116 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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. row — to paddle
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. file — a document
  5. capital — a city
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — to drill
  8. degree — from a university
  9. file — a tool
  10. row — a line
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wind — moving air
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — a grade
  24. game — wild animals

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