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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 116 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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. last — to go on
  3. rock — music
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. land — ground
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. ground — a position
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. ground — the earth
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rock — a stone
  18. ground — crushed

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