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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fine — all right
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. squash — the sport
  6. mark — a grade
  7. mark — a trace
  8. capital — a city
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — to go on
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. mug — to rob
  16. mug — a cup
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bulb — for light
  20. squash — to crush
  21. last — final
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. last — finally

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