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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — finally
  3. pound — a weight
  4. capital — a city
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. can — a tin
  7. club — for dancing
  8. last — final
  9. can — a tin
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. mine — for digging
  13. club — a group
  14. club — for golf
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. can — to be able to
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. last — to go on
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. capital — money

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