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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 · land · fine · last · spell · arm · kid · capital

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spell — magic
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. fine — all right
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. land — a country
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. capital — money
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. last — to go on
  16. land — ground
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. fine — high quality
  21. kid — child
  22. capital — a city
  23. land — to come down
  24. last — finally

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