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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — obliged
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. land — to come down
  6. season — of the year
  7. track — a song
  8. land — ground
  9. scale — in music
  10. capital — a city
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. season — in sport
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. track — to keep track
  16. capital — money
  17. land — a country
  18. scale — size or range
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cold — an illness
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bound — certain
  23. track — a path
  24. tube — in a tire

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