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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. content — happy
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. last — final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — the arms race
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. bulb — for light
  15. last — finally
  16. race — humankind
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount

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