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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. last — finally
  3. land — to come down
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — to go on
  6. mate — to breed
  7. last — final
  8. land — ground
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mark — a grade
  11. land — a country
  12. fork — in a road
  13. scale — in music
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. mate — a partner
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. scale — size or range
  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