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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. track — a song
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. last — to go on
  5. tube — a container
  6. last — finally
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. tube — the underground
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pound — a weight
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. shower — to wash
  16. band — a music group
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. track — a path
  19. capital — money
  20. band — a ring
  21. track — to keep track
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. chair — a leader

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