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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: rush · capital · shower · clip · suit · last · toast · net

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. capital — a city
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — hurry
  7. suit — in cards
  8. net — in sport
  9. capital — money
  10. last — final
  11. suit — clothes
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. clip — a video
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. net — after costs
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. shower — rain
  18. toast — bread
  19. net — for catching
  20. shower — to wash
  21. clip — for paper
  22. suit — to fit
  23. last — finally
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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