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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. last — to go on
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. race — a contest
  5. court — for sport
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. race — the arms race
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. race — humankind
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. last — finally
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. court — of law
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. last — final
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. plane — a tool
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. court — of a king

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