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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. bulb — for light
  5. wound — an injury
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. pop — music
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. stand — to bear
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. bulb — for light
  14. saw — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. last — to go on
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wound — an injury
  22. lie — to recline
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. last — finally

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