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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — finally
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. net — in sport
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fan — a supporter

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