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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pop — soda
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. capital — a city
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pop — music
  9. capital — money
  10. pass — a permit
  11. cell — a phone
  12. land — to come down
  13. suit — clothes
  14. wind — moving air
  15. suit — in cards
  16. wind — moving air
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. pop — to visit
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. pass — to succeed

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