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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — final
  3. bass — low music
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. capital — a city
  7. toast — bread
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spell — a short time
  11. file — a tool
  12. bass — the fish
  13. last — to go on
  14. fine — all right
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. capital — money
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. fine — high quality
  20. last — finally
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spell — letters
  23. file — a document
  24. spell — magic

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