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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 116 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. capital — a city
  6. march — the month
  7. last — final
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rule — government
  12. field — for sport
  13. capital — money
  14. march — music
  15. pound — a weight
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. march — the month
  18. last — to go on
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. row — a line
  21. rule — a law
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. rule — to rule out

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