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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cold — not warm
  3. capital — a city
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. land — ground
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. land — to come down
  11. last — to go on
  12. capital — money
  13. plane — a tool
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. cold — an illness
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. land — a country
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. last — finally
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. wound — an injury

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