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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. net — for catching
  3. ground — a position
  4. net — in sport
  5. capital — money
  6. ground — crushed
  7. game — a match
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. last — to go on
  10. pitch — completely
  11. net — after costs
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. craft — a skill
  17. last — finally
  18. craft — boats
  19. capital — a city
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. game — wild animals
  22. ground — the earth
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. nail — on a finger

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