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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. fine — high quality
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cue — a signal
  5. capital — a city
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rash — hasty
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. capital — money
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. fine — all right
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. field — for sport
  14. rash — a series
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cue — for pool
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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