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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. land — a country
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. last — to go on
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. land — ground
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cell — a phone
  13. press — a publisher
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bear — the animal
  16. stock — goods
  17. land — to come down
  18. stock — shares
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. press — to push
  23. bat — the animal
  24. stock — a soup base

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