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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. capital — money
  3. season — of the year
  4. wind — moving air
  5. shower — to wash
  6. scale — size or range
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. last — to go on
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. last — final
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. shower — rain
  19. last — finally
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wind — moving air
  23. capital — a city
  24. scale — in music

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