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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 124 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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. toast — bread
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cap — of ice
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cap — a lid
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cell — in biology
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — a city
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. perch — the fish
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. capital — money
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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