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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. present — a gift
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. key — the most important part
  6. perch — the fish
  7. squash — to crush
  8. shower — rain
  9. last — final
  10. key — in music
  11. last — to go on
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. present — there
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. present — the time now
  18. squash — the sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. key — for a lock

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