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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. staff — employees
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. file — a document
  6. staff — employees
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a ring
  9. plane — a tool
  10. last — to go on
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. file — a tool
  13. snap — to click
  14. fine — all right
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. fine — high quality
  19. staff — a stick
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. file — a line of people
  24. last — finally

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