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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. sharp — clever
  3. vault — a safe
  4. march — the month
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. march — the month
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — of water
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. spring — the season
  15. snap — to click
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — final
  20. spring — a coil
  21. march — music
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. wake — a trail

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