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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. scale — size or range
  3. ground — the earth
  4. scale — in music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. club — for dancing
  8. mine — for digging
  9. ground — crushed
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. ground — a position
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a list
  16. last — final
  17. wind — moving air
  18. club — a group
  19. roll — a cake
  20. club — for golf
  21. chest — a box
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. last — finally
  24. scale — for weighing

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