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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. mate — to breed
  3. key — the most important part
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. key — for a lock
  6. capital — a city
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. track — to keep track
  10. last — to go on
  11. mate — a friend
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. last — final
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. net — in sport
  16. mate — a partner
  17. rule — a law
  18. last — finally
  19. key — in music
  20. track — a song
  21. capital — money
  22. track — a path
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. trunk — of a car

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