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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. file — a tool
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. squash — the sport
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. file — a document
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. band — a ring
  14. land — a country
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. bat — the animal
  17. land — ground
  18. capital — a city
  19. file — a line of people
  20. land — to come down
  21. capital — money
  22. squash — to crush
  23. band — a music group
  24. mouse — for a computer

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