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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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 big letter
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. net — after costs
  5. object — a thing
  6. rush — hurry
  7. net — for catching
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. last — final
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. capital — money
  12. net — in sport
  13. wound — an injury
  14. object — an aim
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. capital — a city
  17. pound — a weight
  18. object — to protest
  19. last — to go on
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. wound — an injury
  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