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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. season — in sport
  4. capital — a city
  5. bound — tied together
  6. capital — money
  7. tube — the underground
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stock — goods
  11. season — of the year
  12. last — finally
  13. game — a match
  14. bound — obliged
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bound — certain
  20. game — wild animals
  21. last — to go on
  22. tube — a container
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. trunk — of a tree

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