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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — finally
  3. drill — army training
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. file — a tool
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. drill — a practice
  9. file — a document
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — of your body
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — a stone
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. drill — the tool
  16. roll — a list
  17. last — final
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. roll — a cake
  21. rock — music
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — an illness

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