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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. last — final
  3. ball — a dance
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. pass — a permit
  8. last — finally
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ball — a great time
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. march — the month
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. shower — to wash
  16. saw — the tool
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. march — music
  21. last — to go on
  22. shower — rain
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. march — the month

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