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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. land — ground
  5. hand — in cards
  6. squash — the sport
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. net — after costs
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. land — a country
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pound — a weight
  13. squash — to crush
  14. kid — child
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. land — to come down
  17. net — in sport
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. hand — help
  20. net — for catching
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. kid — to tease
  24. squash — the vegetable

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