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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. capital — a city
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mate — to breed
  12. present — the time now
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bound — certain
  15. present — there
  16. bound — tied together
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. present — a gift
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mate — a partner
  23. capital — money
  24. cell — in biology

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