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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. ball — a dance
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lie — to recline
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. stand — to bear
  24. cold — an illness

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