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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. last — finally
  8. rush — hurry
  9. drill — a practice
  10. content — happy
  11. cold — an illness
  12. last — final
  13. content — the amount
  14. drill — army training
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bulb — for light
  24. drill — the tool

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