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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. fine — all right
  3. capital — a city
  4. cue — a hint
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — an illness
  7. ball — a great time
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — money
  11. ball — a dance
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wind — moving air
  24. capital — a big letter

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