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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. club — for golf
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rule — government
  6. kid — child
  7. rule — a law
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. last — finally
  10. last — final
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wind — moving air
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — to tease
  15. squash — to crush
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. march — the month
  19. club — a group
  20. wind — moving air
  21. club — for dancing
  22. perch — the fish
  23. march — music
  24. squash — the sport

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