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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rash — hasty
  3. swing — to play on
  4. swing — in golf
  5. spell — letters
  6. net — in sport
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — after costs
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. spell — a short time
  13. swing — music
  14. net — for catching
  15. land — to come down
  16. firm — a company
  17. firm — decided
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spell — magic
  21. capital — money
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rash — a series
  24. firm — steady

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