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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fine — high quality
  7. deal — to handle
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — a box
  12. last — finally
  13. mine — for digging
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — a video
  16. fine — all right
  17. clip — to cut
  18. last — final

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