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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. mug — a cup
  3. shower — rain
  4. saw — the tool
  5. ground — crushed
  6. saw — the tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. capital — money
  11. scale — size or range
  12. band — a ring
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mug — to rob
  17. scale — in music
  18. rule — government
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. shower — to wash
  21. ground — the earth
  22. rule — a law
  23. ground — a position
  24. capital — a big letter

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