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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bass — low music
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. track — a song
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. capital — money
  7. game — a match
  8. bass — the fish
  9. track — a path
  10. row — to paddle
  11. kid — to tease
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. face — to point toward
  14. track — to keep track
  15. can — to be able to
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. face — to confront
  19. game — wild animals
  20. can — a tin
  21. row — a line
  22. can — a tin
  23. kid — child
  24. face — part of the head

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