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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. pit — in a race
  3. fall — to drop
  4. last — to go on
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fall — to drop
  7. last — final
  8. can — a tin
  9. cold — an illness
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. pit — a hole
  15. season — in sport
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. fall — the season
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — to be able to
  24. field — farmland

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