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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. race — humankind
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cell — in biology
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hand — help
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. last — final
  15. race — the arms race
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. capital — a city
  19. race — a contest
  20. cell — a phone
  21. last — finally
  22. capital — money
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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