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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — an illness
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — a partner
  7. spell — letters
  8. stand — to bear
  9. staff — a stick
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bat — the animal
  12. staff — employees
  13. cold — not warm
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. staff — employees
  16. date — the fruit
  17. mate — to breed
  18. capital — money
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. spell — magic
  21. capital — a city
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cold — the Cold War

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