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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. stand — to bear
  3. game — wild animals
  4. row — a line
  5. game — a match
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. prune — to trim
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. mark — a trace
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. last — finally
  15. degree — from a university
  16. last — final
  17. kick — in football
  18. degree — an amount
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mark — a grade
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. degree — temperature
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. row — to paddle

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