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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — the earth
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — a group
  7. march — the month
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. wake — a trail
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. ground — a position
  12. last — finally
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — to handle
  15. last — final
  16. club — for dancing
  17. march — music
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. march — the month
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. last — to go on
  24. rush — a thrill

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