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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. last — final
  8. prune — to trim
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. file — a tool
  11. season — in sport
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. dip — to sink
  15. file — a document
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fork — in a road
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. season — of the year
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. bay — a horse colour

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