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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: tube · game · cue · capital · staff · fork · last · tear

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. capital — a city
  3. last — final
  4. cue — a signal
  5. staff — employees
  6. fork — in a road
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. tube — the underground
  10. staff — a stick
  11. game — a match
  12. last — finally
  13. cue — for pool
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cue — a hint
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. staff — employees
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tube — a container
  24. capital — money

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