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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wound — an injury
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. date — the fruit
  12. shower — rain
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. drill — army training
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — the tool
  24. capital — money

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