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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 116 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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. file — a document
  4. spring — the season
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. rash — hasty
  8. capital — a city
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. scale — size or range
  11. file — a line of people
  12. fork — in a road
  13. capital — money
  14. mug — to rob
  15. spring — of water
  16. bass — the fish
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. spring — a coil
  19. scale — in music
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bass — low music
  22. file — a tool
  23. mug — a cup
  24. mug — a face

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