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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pop — music
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. club — for dancing
  5. plane — a tool
  6. land — ground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. pop — soda
  9. capital — money
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. tube — the underground
  12. club — for golf
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. tube — a container
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pass — a permit
  17. capital — a city
  18. land — a country
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — in cards
  21. club — a group
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. land — to come down

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