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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. sharp — clever
  3. last — finally
  4. game — wild animals
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. game — a match
  7. spell — letters
  8. cell — a phone
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. spell — magic
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. spell — a short time
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — of the year
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pop — to visit
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. pop — music
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. last — to go on
  23. pop — soda
  24. deal — to handle

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