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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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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. mark — a trace
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ball — a dance
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. last — finally
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. march — the month
  13. mark — a grade
  14. last — final
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. ball — a great time

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