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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. craft — boats
  3. pit — in a race
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. last — to go on
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. last — final
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. content — the amount
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. cold — not warm
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. pit — a hole
  15. spring — the season
  16. craft — a skill
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spring — of water
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. foot — a measure
  23. content — happy
  24. spring — a coil

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