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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 120 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: snap · season · game · hand · last · capital · vault · track

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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 — to go on
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. season — in sport
  6. vault — a safe
  7. snap — to click
  8. last — final
  9. game — a match
  10. track — a song
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. track — a path
  16. hand — help
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. track — to keep track
  19. hand — in cards
  20. season — of the year
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — wild animals
  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