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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. drill — the tool
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. land — ground
  7. pit — a hole
  8. last — to go on
  9. drill — army training
  10. ball — a dance
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — in a race
  16. land — to come down
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. land — a country
  19. spring — of water
  20. drill — a practice
  21. spring — the season
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spring — a coil

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