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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 to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. dip — to sink
  7. last — final
  8. face — to confront
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. rash — hasty
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. face — part of the head
  13. rash — a series
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. cold — an illness
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. hand — help
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. stand — to bear
  23. last — finally
  24. hand — in cards

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