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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. last — finally
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bear — the animal
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pitch — completely
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. shower — to wash
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. hand — help
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. hand — part of the body

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