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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — finally
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — to come from
  9. season — in sport
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. ground — a position
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. ground — crushed
  18. roll — a cake
  19. kick — in football
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a list
  22. last — final
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bass — the instrument

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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