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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. game — a match
  3. capital — money
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — the month
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cap — a hat
  8. mine — for digging
  9. game — wild animals
  10. can — a tin
  11. scale — size or range
  12. can — a tin
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. march — music
  16. wind — moving air
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. can — to be able to
  19. cap — a lid
  20. scale — in music
  21. march — the month
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. capital — a city
  24. cap — of ice

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