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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. kid — to tease
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. capital — money
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. shower — to wash
  9. press — newspapers
  10. press — a publisher
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. last — final
  15. kid — child
  16. last — to go on
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. press — to push
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. shower — rain
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. saw — the tool
  24. last — finally

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