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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. face — part of the head
  3. court — for sport
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. last — final
  8. rest — a break
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. face — to confront
  11. court — of law
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mug — to rob
  14. game — a match
  15. court — of a king
  16. mug — a face
  17. row — a line
  18. mug — a cup
  19. row — to paddle
  20. face — to point toward
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. last — finally

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