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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: tear · dip · ground · game · capital · tube · plane · last

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. ground — the earth
  5. tube — the underground
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. tear — to rip
  8. ground — a position
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — a city
  11. dip — to sink
  12. capital — money
  13. ground — crushed
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tear — from crying
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. tube — a container
  20. game — a match
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. plane — a tool
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. capital — a big letter

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