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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. last — to go on
  4. drill — a practice
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. capital — a city
  7. season — of the year
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. last — finally
  12. drill — army training
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. drill — the tool
  15. court — of a king
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. court — of law
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. season — in sport
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. court — for sport
  24. last — final

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