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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mug — a face
  7. mug — a cup
  8. mug — to rob
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. rush — hurry
  12. last — finally
  13. tear — from crying
  14. present — a gift
  15. stem — to come from
  16. ball — a great time
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. present — the time now
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. present — there
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ball — a dance
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ball — a round shape

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