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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. club — for golf
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. staff — employees
  6. capital — money
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. net — in sport
  13. last — to go on
  14. capital — a city
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cap — a lid
  17. staff — a stick
  18. net — for catching
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. club — for dancing
  22. net — after costs
  23. club — a group
  24. cap — of ice

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