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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — to handle
  4. land — a country
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pop — to visit
  8. last — finally
  9. land — ground
  10. capital — a city
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. rash — hasty
  15. land — to come down
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. last — to go on
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. capital — money
  20. pop — music
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pop — soda
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. rash — a series

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