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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spell — a short time
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. press — a publisher
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — the animal
  9. spell — letters
  10. mate — a friend
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. last — final
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. press — to push
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. mate — a partner
  17. spell — magic
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. field — for sport
  22. press — newspapers
  23. last — finally
  24. lie — to recline

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