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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. last — to go on
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — help
  8. last — final
  9. hand — in cards
  10. club — for golf
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. mine — for digging
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. net — in sport
  19. saw — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — a group
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mine — an explosive

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