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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. drill — a practice
  6. last — to go on
  7. drill — the tool
  8. staff — employees
  9. last — finally
  10. pass — a permit
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. spell — a short time
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mine — for digging
  17. spell — magic
  18. staff — employees
  19. spell — letters
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. drill — army training
  24. staff — a stick

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