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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. capital — money
  3. ground — crushed
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. vault — a safe
  6. march — the month
  7. scale — size or range
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — the sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. ground — a position
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. scale — in music
  16. capital — a city
  17. file — a document
  18. squash — to crush
  19. file — a tool
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. ground — the earth

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