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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. hand — in cards
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. object — to protest
  8. wound — an injury
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. press — a publisher
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. last — finally
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. march — music
  17. object — an aim
  18. wound — an injury
  19. object — a thing
  20. hand — help
  21. wind — moving air
  22. press — to push
  23. press — newspapers
  24. last — to go on

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