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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. shower — to wash
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. last — finally
  5. club — for dancing
  6. mark — a grade
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. club — for golf
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. last — to go on
  12. season — in sport
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. season — of the year
  16. shower — rain
  17. club — a group
  18. mark — a trace
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. kid — child
  22. toast — bread
  23. kid — to tease
  24. last — final

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