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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. capital — a city
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. net — in sport
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. swing — to play on
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — for catching
  13. swing — in golf
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. sharp — clever
  16. bear — the animal
  17. swing — music
  18. tube — the underground
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. tube — a container
  21. roll — a list
  22. capital — money
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bear — the animal

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