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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. march — the month
  3. pop — music
  4. rule — a law
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. pop — to visit
  8. last — finally
  9. rule — government
  10. march — music
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. last — to go on
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bound — obliged
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. capital — money
  17. pop — soda
  18. march — the month
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — certain
  22. land — ground
  23. prune — to trim
  24. capital — a city

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