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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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. shower — a meteor shower
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mate — a partner
  8. last — final
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. shower — to wash
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. content — happy
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. face — part of the head
  16. shower — rain
  17. mate — a friend
  18. content — the amount
  19. face — to confront
  20. mate — to breed
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. pound — a weight

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