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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bass — low music
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. row — a line
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. mate — a friend
  11. press — to push
  12. mate — a partner
  13. branch — a division
  14. land — a country
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. mate — to breed
  18. press — a publisher
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. last — finally
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. press — newspapers

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