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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 116 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. spell — letters
  3. rest — a break
  4. last — final
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. rest — what's left
  8. last — to go on
  9. current — happening now
  10. current — electric
  11. clip — for paper
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. clip — a video
  14. spell — a short time
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spell — magic
  17. rest — what's left
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. race — a contest
  20. current — of water
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. clip — to cut
  24. racket — a loud noise

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