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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: hand · rush · last · object · nail · deal · spell · capital

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. hand — help
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. last — final
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. object — to protest
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. object — a thing
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. deal — to handle
  17. last — finally
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. spell — magic
  20. rush — hurry
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. object — an aim
  23. deal — a big deal
  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