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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. scale — in music
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. snap — to click
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bark — to shout
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. cold — an illness
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. last — final
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. rush — hurry
  23. last — to go on
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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