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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: deal · capital · mine · pop · fork · last · mouse · rule

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. fork — in a road
  3. capital — a city
  4. rule — government
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. last — to go on
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. rule — a law
  10. last — finally
  11. deal — to handle
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — to visit
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. last — final
  18. capital — money
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. pop — soda
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mine — belonging to me

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