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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. tube — a container
  3. bore — to tire
  4. court — for sport
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. capital — money
  7. scale — size or range
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. net — in sport
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. net — after costs
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. court — of a king
  19. scale — in music
  20. net — for catching
  21. bore — to drill
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. court — of law

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