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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. shower — to wash
  4. toast — bread
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. key — the most important part
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. row — a line
  12. shower — rain
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. last — final
  17. field — farmland
  18. key — for a lock
  19. row — to paddle
  20. last — finally
  21. key — in music
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. last — to go on
  24. wake — a trail

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