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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 116 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. band — a ring
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. last — to go on
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. last — final
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pit — in a race
  13. tear — from crying
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. sharp — clever
  16. band — a music group
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cell — in biology
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cell — a phone
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pit — a hole

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