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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. bound — certain
  3. last — to go on
  4. land — to come down
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. last — final
  7. capital — a city
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — a hat
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. cap — of ice
  14. capital — money
  15. last — finally
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. dip — to sink

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