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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  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. last — final
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. clip — to cut
  4. season — of the year
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. clip — for paper
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. rule — a law
  13. key — the most important part
  14. season — in sport
  15. key — in music
  16. clip — a video
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. capital — money
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. last — to go on
  21. rule — government
  22. capital — a city
  23. key — for a lock
  24. last — finally

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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