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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 120 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. last — to go on
  3. present — a gift
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. present — there
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. last — finally
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. court — of law
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. pitch — completely
  18. present — the time now
  19. last — final
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. spell — magic
  22. capital — a city
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — letters

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