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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. capital — money
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. capital — a city
  6. deal — to handle
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bound — obliged
  9. row — a line
  10. bound — certain
  11. last — final
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. row — to paddle
  14. land — to come down
  15. net — for catching
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. net — in sport
  18. last — to go on
  19. net — after costs
  20. bound — tied together
  21. land — ground
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. last — finally
  24. land — a country

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