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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. race — humankind
  3. last — final
  4. race — a contest
  5. capital — a city
  6. mine — for digging
  7. perch — the fish
  8. fall — to drop
  9. capital — money
  10. ground — a position
  11. fall — the season
  12. last — to go on
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. spell — a short time
  15. last — finally
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — the earth
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. race — the arms race
  23. ground — crushed
  24. spell — letters

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