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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. drill — army training
  3. dip — to sink
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. press — newspapers
  9. rest — a break
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hand — help
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. drill — a practice
  15. rest — what's left
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rest — what's left
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. drill — the tool
  21. press — to push
  22. press — a publisher
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. trunk — of a tree

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