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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mate — to breed
  4. scale — size or range
  5. land — a country
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fine — high quality
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — a partner
  16. game — wild animals
  17. capital — money
  18. land — ground
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. capital — a city
  23. scale — in music
  24. land — to come down

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