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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. toast — bread
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. last — final
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. last — finally
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. craft — a skill
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. file — a tool
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. stem — to come from
  20. file — a line of people
  21. season — of the year
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. season — in sport

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