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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. land — ground
  3. capital — money
  4. rest — a break
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. last — to go on
  7. land — to come down
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. last — finally
  10. rest — what's left
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. capital — a city
  15. rest — what's left
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. content — happy
  18. game — wild animals
  19. land — a country
  20. sharp — clever
  21. game — a match
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. last — final

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