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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. capital — a city
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. last — finally
  7. saw — the tool
  8. last — to go on
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. cue — a signal
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ball — a great time
  13. capital — money
  14. ball — a dance
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. cue — a hint
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. cue — for pool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fan — a supporter

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