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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. swing — to play on
  3. game — a match
  4. rule — a law
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. march — the month
  8. capital — a city
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. march — the month
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. march — music
  14. spell — magic
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. swing — in golf
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rule — government
  20. capital — money
  21. spell — a short time
  22. swing — music
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. spell — letters

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