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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. shower — to wash
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. can — a tin
  5. capital — a city
  6. can — to be able to
  7. pass — a permit
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. game — wild animals
  10. shower — rain
  11. net — after costs
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. net — for catching
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. capital — money
  16. net — in sport
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. can — a tin

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