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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  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. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a match
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. tube — the underground
  13. row — a line
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — a cake
  17. pitch — completely
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. tube — a container
  23. pitch — a sports field
  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