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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. capital — a city
  4. land — ground
  5. wake — a trail
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. game — a match
  8. land — a country
  9. ball — a dance
  10. row — to paddle
  11. capital — money
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. lean — to bend
  14. land — to come down
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. lean — thin
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. row — a line
  20. saw — the tool
  21. ball — a great time
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. saw — the tool
  24. game — wild animals

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