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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 116 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hand — help
  8. board — to get on
  9. last — final
  10. rash — a series
  11. fine — all right
  12. last — to go on
  13. club — for golf
  14. hand — in cards
  15. club — a group
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wound — an injury
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. board — a committee
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. club — for dancing
  24. fine — high quality

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