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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. mine — for digging
  3. last — finally
  4. cold — an illness
  5. capital — a city
  6. craft — boats
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. last — final
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. rock — a stone
  16. capital — money
  17. swing — in golf
  18. craft — a skill
  19. swing — music
  20. rock — music
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. swing — to play on
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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