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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. cap — a lid
  4. face — to confront
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — a phone
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. last — to go on
  14. ground — crushed
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. cap — a hat
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. ground — a position
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. cell — in biology

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