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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. shower — rain
  6. capital — a city
  7. last — finally
  8. capital — money
  9. land — to come down
  10. spell — magic
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. band — a ring
  15. shower — to wash
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. land — a country
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. last — final
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. band — a music group
  24. land — ground

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