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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 124 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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. net — in sport
  3. cap — a hat
  4. net — for catching
  5. capital — a city
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. net — after costs
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cap — a lid
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. capital — money
  13. cap — of ice
  14. ground — the earth
  15. shower — to wash
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. shower — rain
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. ground — crushed
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ground — a position
  24. squash — to crush

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