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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 is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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. tear — to rip
  4. land — a country
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. net — for catching
  7. land — ground
  8. last — finally
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. current — happening now
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — in sport
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — a trail
  18. land — to come down
  19. tear — from crying
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. tear — from crying
  22. current — of water
  23. current — electric
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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