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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. fine — high quality
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. race — a contest
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fine — all right
  12. bark — to shout
  13. field — a subject
  14. last — finally
  15. last — final
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. net — after costs
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. race — humankind
  24. cold — not warm

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