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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 120 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. court — of law
  4. last — final
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — an illness
  10. key — the most important part
  11. court — of a king
  12. cold — not warm
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. key — for a lock
  17. pound — a weight
  18. court — for sport
  19. key — in music
  20. wake — a trail
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — a supporter

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