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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. capital — money
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. spell — magic
  5. last — final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. shower — rain
  8. ground — crushed
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. shower — to wash
  15. capital — a city
  16. spell — letters
  17. can — to be able to
  18. spell — a short time
  19. perch — the fish
  20. can — a tin
  21. last — to go on
  22. ground — a position
  23. can — a tin
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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