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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. firm — steady
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. rash — a series
  6. band — a music group
  7. perch — the fish
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — a hat
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. last — final
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. firm — a company
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cap — of ice
  20. firm — decided
  21. rash — hasty
  22. capital — a city
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. last — to go on

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