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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — ground
  3. last — finally
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. last — final
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. season — of the year
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. kid — to tease
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — thin
  12. last — to go on
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. season — in sport
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. spell — letters
  17. row — a line
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. spell — magic
  20. lean — to bend
  21. spell — a short time
  22. row — to paddle
  23. land — a country
  24. kid — child

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