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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cold — not warm
  3. file — a tool
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — final
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. lean — thin
  9. file — a line of people
  10. rush — hurry
  11. last — to go on
  12. craft — boats
  13. stem — to come from
  14. craft — a skill
  15. file — a document
  16. cold — an illness
  17. lean — to bend
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. lean — to rest against

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