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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. last — to go on
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. capital — money
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — a trail
  9. capital — a city
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. court — of a king
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fork — in a road
  15. court — for sport
  16. cap — of ice
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. last — finally
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. court — of law
  22. last — final
  23. cap — a lid
  24. leaves — lets stay

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