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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rule — a law
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. mug — to rob
  7. roll — a list
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. mug — a face
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. last — to go on
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rule — government
  16. pit — a hole
  17. last — final
  18. roll — a cake
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. fork — in a road
  21. game — a match
  22. pit — in a race
  23. mug — a cup
  24. roll — on a roll

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