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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. prune — to trim
  3. rest — a break
  4. prune — to trim
  5. capital — a city
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. hand — help
  8. rest — what's left
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. bass — the fish
  14. hand — in cards
  15. capital — money
  16. last — final
  17. march — the month
  18. bass — low music
  19. march — the month
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. rest — what's left
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. last — to go on
  24. march — 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