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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. race — the arms race
  3. last — to go on
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. last — finally
  6. drill — army training
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. land — ground
  9. fine — all right
  10. drill — a practice
  11. lean — thin
  12. bat — the animal
  13. last — final
  14. land — to come down
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. land — a country
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. lean — to bend
  19. race — a contest
  20. fine — high quality
  21. race — humankind
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. drill — the tool

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