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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kick — in football
  4. cell — a phone
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — a hole
  7. last — final
  8. file — a line of people
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. can — a tin
  16. chair — a leader
  17. file — a tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. file — a document
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — to be able to
  23. pit — in a race
  24. last — to go on

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