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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. last — finally
  3. mine — for digging
  4. chest — of your body
  5. last — to go on
  6. lean — to bend
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. chest — a box
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. last — final
  12. drill — the tool
  13. current — happening now
  14. lean — thin
  15. track — a path
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. track — a song
  18. drill — army training
  19. ground — the earth
  20. chest — of your body
  21. ground — crushed
  22. current — of water
  23. track — to keep track
  24. current — electric

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