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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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. lean — to rest against
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. perch — the fish
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lean — to bend
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. ground — crushed
  18. lean — thin
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. last — finally
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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