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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. swing — to play on
  3. sharp — clever
  4. wound — an injury
  5. swing — in golf
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. wound — an injury
  9. charge — in control
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. swing — music
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — a friend
  16. capital — money
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. charge — a price
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. mine — for digging
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. charge — electricity

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