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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  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. rash — hasty
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pit — a hole
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. deal — to handle
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. mark — a trace
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cold — not warm
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — a series
  22. mark — a grade
  23. last — final
  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