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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  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. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — bread
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. file — a line of people
  5. drill — army training
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cap — a hat
  9. capital — money
  10. drill — the tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. drill — a practice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. file — a tool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bore — to tire
  17. net — for catching
  18. bore — to drill
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — a city
  23. cap — of ice
  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