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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. capital — a city
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. ground — the earth
  6. rush — hurry
  7. capital — money
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — a trail
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wind — moving air
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. ground — a position
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. ground — crushed
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fork — in a road

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