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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. capital — a city
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rush — hurry
  5. capital — money
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rule — government
  11. shower — rain
  12. last — final
  13. court — for sport
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. last — to go on
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. last — finally
  21. shower — to wash
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. rule — a law

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