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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. bat — the animal
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. game — wild animals
  7. capital — a city
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. last — final
  10. row — a line
  11. object — to protest
  12. squash — to crush
  13. row — to paddle
  14. rest — what's left
  15. last — to go on
  16. rest — what's left
  17. last — finally
  18. rest — a break
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. capital — money
  21. squash — the sport
  22. object — a thing
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. game — a match

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