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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 120 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. capital — money
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. spell — letters
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. swing — to play on
  8. spell — a short time
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. swing — music
  13. spell — magic
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a music group

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