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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rule — government
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. pop — music
  5. mug — a face
  6. mug — a cup
  7. pop — to visit
  8. mug — to rob
  9. spring — of water
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. lean — to bend
  12. capital — money
  13. lean — thin
  14. hand — help
  15. rule — a law
  16. pop — soda
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spring — the season
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — clever
  21. spring — a coil
  22. hand — in cards
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. hand — part of the body

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