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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. drill — a practice
  3. file — a tool
  4. lie — to recline
  5. drill — the tool
  6. rush — hurry
  7. file — a line of people
  8. drill — army training
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. last — finally
  11. field — for sport
  12. file — a document
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. field — a subject
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. field — farmland
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. last — to go on
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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