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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. capital — money
  5. drill — the tool
  6. spell — letters
  7. cap — a hat
  8. net — in sport
  9. drill — a practice
  10. track — a song
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. fine — all right
  13. spell — a short time
  14. drill — army training
  15. game — a match
  16. fine — high quality
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cap — a lid
  20. game — wild animals
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cap — of ice
  23. spell — magic
  24. capital — a city

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