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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. last — finally
  3. mark — a trace
  4. mine — for digging
  5. last — final
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — magic
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. spell — a short time
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. dip — to sink
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mark — a grade
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. last — to go on
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. sharp — clever
  23. perch — the fish
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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