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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. key — the most important part
  3. season — of the year
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. hand — help
  6. season — in sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. hand — in cards
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. clip — a video
  11. shower — rain
  12. last — final
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. shower — to wash
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mate — a partner
  24. last — finally

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