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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cap — a lid
  10. last — finally
  11. cap — of ice
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. last — to go on
  18. wake — a trail

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