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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 120 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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — the animal
  4. spell — letters
  5. march — music
  6. spell — a short time
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. degree — from a university
  9. last — to go on
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. land — to come down
  12. spell — magic
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. march — the month
  16. last — finally
  17. land — a country
  18. march — the month
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. land — ground
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. degree — an amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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