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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. file — a document
  5. firm — a company
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. firm — decided
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. capital — a city
  11. firm — steady
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a tool
  16. last — final
  17. spell — magic
  18. capital — money
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. last — finally
  21. hand — in cards
  22. last — to go on
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — completely

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