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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. spell — letters
  3. capital — a city
  4. spell — magic
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. staff — a stick
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. present — the time now
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pit — in a race
  12. ball — a dance
  13. staff — employees
  14. present — there
  15. saw — the tool
  16. row — a line
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. saw — the tool
  19. row — to paddle
  20. present — a gift
  21. capital — money
  22. staff — employees
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pit — a hole

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