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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. charge — in control
  3. bat — the animal
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. charge — electricity
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. cold — an illness
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pit — a hole
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. capital — a city
  22. charge — a price
  23. pit — in a race
  24. perch — for a bird

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