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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. last — final
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cell — a phone
  10. scale — in music
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cell — in biology
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cap — of ice
  15. chest — a box
  16. row — a line
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. chest — of your body
  20. scale — size or range
  21. prune — to trim
  22. last — finally
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. stand — to bear

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