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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. fine — high quality
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fine — all right
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. capital — a city
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. sharp — clever
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. capital — money
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bound — certain
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. bound — obliged
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bound — tied together
  24. cell — a phone

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