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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. net — in sport
  4. bore — to tire
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — the sport
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bore — to drill
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — farmland
  11. net — after costs
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. field — a subject
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. fall — to drop
  18. squash — to crush
  19. fall — the season
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. net — for catching
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. last — to go on

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