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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. last — final
  3. bore — to drill
  4. bore — to tire
  5. last — finally
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. swing — in golf
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cell — in biology
  10. dip — to sink
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. swing — music
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. squash — the sport
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. squash — to crush
  21. sharp — clever
  22. wound — an injury
  23. last — to go on
  24. dip — a sauce

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