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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mark — a trace
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. dip — to sink
  9. clip — for paper
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. capital — a city
  12. prune — to trim
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. last — final
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. capital — money
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mark — a grade
  22. prune — to trim
  23. last — to go on
  24. clip — a video

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