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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. chest — of your body
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. capital — money
  8. hand — help
  9. rash — hasty
  10. pop — music
  11. capital — a city
  12. rush — hurry
  13. fine — all right
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fine — high quality
  16. date — the fruit
  17. rash — a series
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. chest — a box
  20. pop — soda
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pop — to visit

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