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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. sharp — clever
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. field — for sport
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. shower — to wash
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. field — a subject
  18. rush — hurry
  19. shower — rain
  20. capital — money
  21. field — farmland
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rush — a thrill

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