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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. file — a line of people
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. mate — a partner
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in biology
  9. drill — army training
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. drill — the tool
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. deal — to handle
  14. file — a tool
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. mate — to breed
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wind — moving air
  20. capital — money
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. kick — in football
  23. mate — a friend
  24. file — a document

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