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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — an illness
  5. capital — a city
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pop — music
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. capital — money
  17. swing — music
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wind — moving air
  20. swing — in golf
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. swing — to play on
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — to visit

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