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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — final
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. spell — magic
  6. field — farmland
  7. last — finally
  8. fine — all right
  9. field — for sport
  10. file — a document
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. swing — music
  14. fine — high quality
  15. saw — the tool
  16. field — a subject
  17. mine — for digging
  18. spell — letters
  19. swing — in golf
  20. file — a line of people
  21. swing — to play on
  22. saw — the tool
  23. spell — a short time
  24. file — a tool

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