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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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 — final
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rock — music
  7. wind — moving air
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. rash — a series
  10. last — finally
  11. rock — a stone
  12. craft — a skill
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. cue — for pool
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rash — hasty
  18. cue — a signal
  19. wind — moving air
  20. shower — rain
  21. craft — boats
  22. cue — a hint
  23. rash — on the skin
  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