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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mine — for digging
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ball — a dance
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. net — for catching
  10. track — a song
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. pass — a permit
  13. track — a path
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. track — to keep track
  16. capital — money
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. scale — size or range
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. capital — a city
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. net — in sport
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — after costs

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