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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: mark · clip · key · game · ball · land · capital · last

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. ball — a dance
  5. land — ground
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. key — for a lock
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mark — a grade
  11. capital — a city
  12. key — the most important part
  13. land — to come down
  14. ball — a great time
  15. capital — money
  16. mark — a trace
  17. clip — to cut
  18. land — a country
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. key — in music
  24. last — to go on

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