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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pit — a hole
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. object — an aim
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — final
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. last — to go on
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. vault — a safe
  13. capital — a city
  14. pit — in a race
  15. shower — to wash
  16. object — a thing
  17. chest — a box
  18. capital — money
  19. last — finally
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. shower — rain
  22. object — to protest
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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