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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — a series
  5. root — of a plant
  6. spell — letters
  7. last — final
  8. wound — an injury
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. last — finally
  11. root — the cause
  12. root — of a word
  13. deal — to handle
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wound — an injury
  20. spell — magic
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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