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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 124 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  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. game — a match
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. wound — an injury
  7. sharp — clever
  8. foot — a measure
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. file — a line of people
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. file — a document
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. file — a tool
  21. last — to go on
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. board — to get on
  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