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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. spell — letters
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — to cut
  5. capital — a city
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. rash — a series
  8. track — a path
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. spell — a short time
  13. capital — money
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. rash — hasty
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spell — magic
  20. clip — a video
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. track — to keep track
  23. last — final
  24. plane — a tool

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