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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. pit — in a race
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. last — to go on
  7. band — a ring
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wound — an injury
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. root — of a word
  13. root — of a plant
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. root — the cause
  16. band — a music group
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. wound — an injury
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. tear — to rip
  22. last — final
  23. tear — from crying
  24. last — finally

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