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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. wind — moving air
  3. field — farmland
  4. pound — a weight
  5. wound — an injury
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — of water
  9. last — finally
  10. squash — the sport
  11. field — for sport
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. field — a subject
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. wind — moving air
  18. current — electric
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. squash — to crush
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. last — final

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