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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. last — final
  4. capital — a city
  5. fall — the season
  6. rash — hasty
  7. shower — rain
  8. saw — the tool
  9. fall — to drop
  10. last — finally
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. bark — to shout
  17. last — to go on
  18. saw — the tool
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a great time
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. capital — money
  23. shower — to wash
  24. fall — to drop

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