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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: land · safe · capital · last · shower · jam · rush · field

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. land — to come down
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. land — ground
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. last — finally
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. field — for sport
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. land — a country
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. field — farmland
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. capital — a city
  21. field — a subject
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rush — hurry
  24. safe — out of danger

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