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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — final
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. lie — to recline
  6. drill — a practice
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. sharp — clever
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. drill — army training
  12. file — a tool
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. drill — the tool
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. last — to go on
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. file — a document

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