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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. last — to go on
  3. saw — the tool
  4. last — final
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. press — to push
  9. saw — the tool
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. rock — music
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. last — finally
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. press — newspapers
  19. land — a country
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. branch — a division
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. land — to come down
  24. rock — to move gently

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