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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. object — an aim
  3. capital — a city
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. march — the month
  6. club — for dancing
  7. shower — rain
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. object — a thing
  11. object — to protest
  12. land — a country
  13. club — for golf
  14. shower — to wash
  15. lean — to bend
  16. march — the month
  17. lean — thin
  18. land — ground
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. capital — money
  21. march — music
  22. land — to come down
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — a group

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