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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. ground — a position
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — a coil
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. spring — the season
  14. last — to go on
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. pitch — completely
  19. spring — of water
  20. wind — moving air
  21. ground — the earth
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pitch — a sports field

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