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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. season — in sport
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. season — of the year
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. capital — a city
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. last — finally
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. last — final
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. capital — money
  19. foot — a measure
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cap — a hat
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. last — to go on
  24. object — an aim

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