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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cue — a signal
  3. capital — money
  4. last — finally
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — the arms race
  10. last — to go on
  11. saw — the tool
  12. branch — a division
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. ground — the earth
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. capital — a city
  19. ground — a position
  20. cue — a hint
  21. cue — for pool
  22. race — a contest
  23. last — final
  24. ground — crushed

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