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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — money
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cold — not warm
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. row — a line
  9. cue — a hint
  10. fine — all right
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. fine — high quality
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wound — an injury
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cue — a signal
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cue — for pool

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