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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. kid — to tease
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. deal — to handle
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. capital — a city
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. last — final
  11. kid — child
  12. last — finally
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. capital — money
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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