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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitch — completely
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. capital — a city
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — the sport
  11. present — the time now
  12. cell — a phone
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. present — there
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. present — a gift
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. squash — to crush

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