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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pop — soda
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — to tease
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. rule — a law
  10. capital — money
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pop — to visit
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rule — government
  17. perch — the fish
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. game — a match
  21. scale — in music
  22. kid — child
  23. scale — size or range
  24. pop — music

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