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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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. date — the fruit
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. kid — child
  9. snap — to click
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. last — finally
  12. row — to paddle
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. pit — in a race
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. row — a line
  24. patient — a sick person

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