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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. last — finally
  4. drill — army training
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. last — final
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. last — to go on
  10. rest — a break
  11. drill — a practice
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. content — happy
  16. content — the amount
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. drill — the tool
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bat — the animal
  23. rest — what's left
  24. perch — for a bird

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