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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. land — ground
  3. capital — money
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. spell — magic
  7. stand — to bear
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. mug — a cup
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. mug — a face
  14. mug — to rob
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. scale — size or range
  17. wake — a trail
  18. scale — in music
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. land — a country
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. land — to come down
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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