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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rule — a law
  5. club — for golf
  6. ball — a dance
  7. roll — a cake
  8. fork — in a road
  9. ball — a great time
  10. chest — a box
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. chest — of your body
  14. roll — a list
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. club — a group
  18. capital — money
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. club — for dancing
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. rule — government
  24. roll — on a roll

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