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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wake — a trail
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rule — government
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. sharp — clever
  13. drill — a practice
  14. capital — money
  15. drill — the tool
  16. capital — a city
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. rule — a law
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. plane — a tool

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