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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. mine — for digging
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. last — finally
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. bound — obliged
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bound — tied together
  16. spring — a coil
  17. last — final
  18. spring — the season
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bound — certain
  22. spring — of water
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rash — a series

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