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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · land · snap · cap · scale · club

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. last — to go on
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. scale — size or range
  5. land — a country
  6. cap — a lid
  7. club — for golf
  8. last — final
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. last — finally
  11. club — a group
  12. cap — a hat
  13. club — for dancing
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to click
  16. land — to come down
  17. scale — in music
  18. cap — of ice

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