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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 124 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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. ruler — a monarch
  2. chest — a box
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. lie — to recline
  6. capital — a city
  7. land — ground
  8. perch — the fish
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. kid — child
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — a country
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. chest — of your body
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. capital — money
  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